li: 


:  msiittiEjii 


BV  638  .V7  1916 
Federal  Council  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ  in 
The  church  and  country  life 


THE  CHURCH  AND 
COUNTRY  LIFE 


REPORT  OF  CONFERENCE  HELD  BY  THE  COM- 
MISSION ON  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE  UNDER 
THE  AUTHORITY  OF  THE  FEDERAL  COUNCIL  OF 
CHURCHES  OF  CHRIST  IN  AMERICA.  COLUMBUS. 
OHIO.     DECEMBER  8-10,  1915 


EDITED  BY 

PAUL  L.'VOGT 

Professor  of  Rural  Economics  and  Sociology, 
Ohio  State  University 


NEW  YORK 

MISSIONARY   EDUCATION   MOVEMENT 

OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  CANADA 

1916 


Copyright,  1916,  by 

Missionary  Education  Movement  of  the 

United  States  and  Canada 


CONTENTS^ 


u 


Secretarial    Preface 

Address  of  Welcome  ... 

Frank  B.  Willis,  Governor  of' Ohio. 

The    Problem ^ 

Gifford  Pinchot,   Chairman,  Commission  on' the*  Church* 
and  Country  Life,  Milford,  Pennsylvania. 
The  Country  Church  and  Community  Building 

Rev.  W.  F.  Richardson,  Kansas  City,  Kansas.* 

*  The  Country  Church  as  a  Community  Center.  21 

Professor  Edwin  L.  Earp,  Madison,  New  Jersey. 
The  Overchurching  of  Rural  Communities  cq 

Rev.  Alva  W.  Taylor,  Columbia,  Missouri. '       '       '       '     ^ 
/The  Social  Responsibility  of  the  Church  to  the  Com- 
munity   ...  t^ 

S.  K.  Mosiman,   Bluffton,  Ohio. 

The  New  Country  Church   .       .  ^ 

Rev.  Ward  Piatt,  Philadelphia,   Pennsylvania.  '       "       " 

*  The  Allies  of  the  Country  Church 

Albert  E.   Roberts,  International  Committee    YMCA 
New  York  City.  •     .    .    ., 

The  Country  Church  and  the  Country  Girl 

Miss  Jessie  Field,  National  Y.W.C.A.,  New  York  City. 
The  Country  Church  and  Rural  Activities 

President  W.  O.  Thompson,  Ohio  State  University.* 
Memoirs  of  a  Rural  Church 

Rev.  Hubert  C.  Herring,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
The  Larger  Benzonia  Parish 

Rev.  Harlow  S.  Mills,  Benzonia,  Michigan.' 
*The  Function,   Policy,   and   Program   of  the   Country 
Church  

President   Kenyon    L.    Butterfield,    Massachusetts    Agri- 
cultural College,  Amherst,   Massachusetts. 

'The  subjects  marked  (*)  are  the  titles  of  reports,  in  each 
case  followed  by  the  name  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee 
presentmg  the  same.  In  the  body  of  the  book  the  chairmen's 
names  are  followed  by  the  names  of  the  other  members  of  the 
committees. 

ill 


75 

86 
88 
94 
97 

113 


iv  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The   Country   Church 126 

Rev.  S.  L.  Morris,  Atlanta,  Georgia. 
Organization   of  the   Commission   on   the   Church   and 

Country   Life 130 

Rev.  Warren  H.  Wilson,  New  York  City. 
*The  Training  of  the  Rural   Ministry    .    .       .       .       .139 

Dr.  George  B.    Stewart,  Auburn,  New  York. 
Training  for  the  Rural   Ministry 153 

Professor  V.  G.  A.  Tressler,  Springfield,  Ohio. 
The  Education  of  the  Rural  Ministry 164 

Professor  W.  K.  Tate,  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

*  Financing  the  Country   Church 170 

Professor  G.  Walter  Fiske,   Oberlin,   Ohio. 
The  Country  Church  in  the  South 191 

Rev.  W.  H.  Mills,  Clemson  College,  South  Carolina. 
Social  Justice  in   the   Rural   Community    ....   197 

Rev.  Harry  F.  Ward,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
The  Crisis  of  Organized  Christianity 204 

Fred  B.  Smith,  New  York  City. 

*  Church  Federation  and  Cooperation 207 

Rev.  E.  Tallmadge  Root,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
Cooperation  and  Religious  Education 212 

President  W.  G.  Clippinger,  Westerville,  Ohio. 
Cooperation  and  Federation  224 

Rev.  John  M.   Moore,   Nashville,   Tennessee. 
Land  Tenure  and  the  Rural  Church 232 

Rev.  Henry  Wallace,  Des   Moines,  Iowa. 
The  Interdependence  of  Good  Farming  and  Good  Preach- 
ing      242 

Rev.  George  N.  Luccock,  Oak  Park,  Illinois. 
The  Functions  of  the  Federal  Council 256 

Professor    Shailer    Mathews,    President    Federal    Coun- 
cil of  Churches,  Chicago,  Illinois. 
The  Church  as  a  Community  Center 259 

Bishop  W.  F.  Anderson,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
The  Rural  Church  as  a  Vitalizing  Agent  ....  262 

Woodrow  Wilson,  President  of  the  United  States. 
A  Last  Word 2^z 

Gifford  Pinchot. 


SECRETARIAL  PREFACE 

In  the  years  1910-1912,  under  the  supervision  of 
Research  Secretary,  the  Rev.  G.  Frederick  Wells,  the 
Federal  Council  maintained  a  ''  bureau  and  clearing- 
house of  research,  information,  and  promotion,  touch- 
ing the  various  church  and  country  life  interests." 
Since  19 13  a  special  committee,  known  as  the  Com- 
mitte  on  Church  and  Country  Life,  has  been  in  charge 
of  this  work,  and  an  executive  has  been  employed  to 
give  it  his  undivided  attention.  During  the  past  year 
the  office  of  this  executive  has  been  in  Columbus, 
Ohio.  It  was  the  idea  of  the  committee  to  make 
Ohio  largely  a  clearing-house  of  information  and  it 
was  thought  desirable  to  be  in  close  contact  with  the 
rural  work  in  a  state  which  is  fairly  central  and  in 
which  there  is  a  variety  of  rural  conditions. 

The  executive  has  been  of  some  assistance  to  those 
interested  in  the  organization  for  rural  church  and 
country  life  in  Ohio.  In  August,  19 14,  an  organiza- 
tion called  the  Ohio  Rural  Life  Association  was 
formed,  including  an  Advisory  Council  made  up  of 
persons  who  are  in  close  touch  with  work  for  the  bet- 
terment of  country  life,  while  there  is  a  Committee 
on  Interchurch  Cooperation,  consisting  of  bishops, 
superintendents,  and  others,  representing  sixteen 
denominations.    A  program  for  constructive  work  has 


vi  SECRETARIAL  PREFACE 

been  adopted.  As  soon  as  the  church  survey  of  the 
state  should  be  completed,  it  was  planned  that  this 
committee  should  meet  for  two  or  three  days'  session 
to  determine  the  best  possible  plan  of  action  to  im- 
prove the  serious  rural  church  conditions  disclosed  by 
the  survey. 

The  main  work  during  the  year  in  Ohio  has  been 
a  state-wide  survey  supplementing  the  work  of  19 12 
and  19 1 3  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  and  the  Ohio 
Rural  Life  Survey.  The  attempt  has  been  made  to 
ascertain  the  location  and  denomination  of  every  rural 
church,  its  present  membership,  whether  it  is  gaining 
or  losing  in  membership,  and  whether  it  ordinarily  has 
a  resident  pastor,  and  what  part  of  a  minister's 
service  it  receives.  Most  of  these  facts  have  been 
ascertained  for  the  churches  in  more  than  1,100  out 
of  a  total  of  1,352  rural  townships,  while  the  survey 
is  well  under  way  in  most  of  the  remaining  townships. 
The  data  for  216  townships  were  taken  from  the 
work  of  the  Ohio  Rural  Life  Survey,  whereas  many 
data  from  nearly  200  additional  townships,  though 
not  the  location  of  the  churches,  were  ascertained 
from  the  same  source.  So  far  as  the  data  have  been 
tabulated,  they  indicate  that  nearly  one  fourth  of  the 
townships  of  the  state,  comprising  a  territory  of  more 
than  9,000  square  miles,  are  without  resident  min- 
isters and  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  the 
churches  in  this  area  are  declining  in  membership; 
that  on  an  average  there  are  nearly  four  churches  in 
each  of  these  townships;  that  there  is  a  church  to 
every  286  persons,  while  there  is  one  minister  to  about 


SECRETARIAL  PREFACE  vii 

800  persons.  These  persons,  however,  are  divided  in 
different  communities  in  such  a  way  that  rarely  does 
a  minister  have  a  community  in  which  he  has  an 
opportunity  for  unhampered  leadership  in  community 
betterment. 

The  surveys  made  during  the  last  five  or  six  years 
indicate  that  conditions  may  be  no  better  in  other 
states.  However,  there  is  ground  to  hope  that 
through  interdenominational  cooperation  something 
can  be  done  for  improvement.  While  betterment  can 
be  brought  about  only  by  slow  advancement,  it  is  a 
matter  of  great  importance  that,  even  though  slow, 
such  advancement  shall  be  made.  If  the  Commission 
in  cooperation  with  the  people  of  Ohio  and  through 
correspondence  with  persons  in  other  states  can  learn 
ways  and  means  for  the  solution  of  the  vital  and 
fundamental  problem  of  rural  church  decline,  its 
service  should  prove  one  of  the  most  important  of 
those  rendered  by  the  Federal  Council  of  Churches. 

The  demonstration  that  it  is  feasible  to  make  a 
state-wide  survey  is  regarded  as  of  some  importance. 
If,  as  anticipated,  the  survey  shall  point  out  ways  of 
betterment  and  the  ecclesiastical  forces  of  the  state 
shall  act  successfully  upon  the  suggestions  to  which 
it  may  lead,  the  survey  work  in  Ohio  and  the  program 
of  the  Committee  on  Church  and  Country  Life  will 
be  justified  by  substantial  results. 

The  high  grade  of  accomplishment  of  many  coun- 
try pastors  in  various  parts  of  the  United  States  justi- 
fies expectation  that,  as  the  direct  result  of  a  propa- 
ganda, a  great  advance  can  be  made  in  the  work  of 


viii  SECRETARIAL  PREFACE 

country  churches  generally.  The  superior  work  is 
often  the  result  of  a  new  understanding  of  the  country 
life  problem  and  a  new  vision  of  the  possibilities  of 
work  in  the  rural  parish.  Many  a  pastor  has  revo- 
lutionized his  work  and  doubled  his  effectiveness  be- 
cause of  information  gained  through  surveys,  through 
the  literature  of  the  modern  country  church  move- 
ment, or  through  contact  with  persons  active  in  the 
movement.  It  is  proposed  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  as  a 
chief  part  of  the  work  for  the  next  year,  to  make  a 
special  study  of  successful  work  of  country  churches 
and  rural  pastors,  to  publish  a  description  of  it  in 
bulletins,  and  to  send  these  to  every  rural  pastor  in 
the  state  and  to  students  in  theological  seminaries. 
Thus  it  is  hoped  out  of  actual  accomplishment  on  the 
field  itself  to  create  higher  ideals  and  standards  for 
rural  church  work.  If  this  program  is  carried  out  in 
all  the  states,  the  effect  upon  country  life  and  on  the 
religious  life  of  the  nation  will  be  of  no  small  sig- 
nificance. 

It  is  proposed  also  to  hold  an  increased  number  of 
country  church  institutes  in  the  various  counties,  and 
where  county  organizations  do  not  already  exist  to 
stimulate  the  formation  of  County  Committees  to  act 
as  coordinating  agencies  in  the  readjustment  of 
church  life. 

Interdenominational  organization  for  country 
church  betterment  has  had  an  excellent  effect  upon 
some  of  the  country  ministers.  It  gives  an  esprit  de 
corps  to  the  country  ministry,  adds  courage,  and 
increases  confidence  and  respect  for  country  church 


SECRETARIAL  PREFACE  ix 

work.  It  has  become  influential  in  drawing  good  men 
into  the  rural  parishes.  It  increases  the  zest  of  the 
country  pastors  for  the  peculiar  type  of  work  needed 
in  the  country.  A  number  of  young  men  are  now 
entering  the  ministry  with  the  purpose  of  devoting 
their  lives  to  work  in  the  country.  Pastors  in  the 
rural  districts  are  refusing  calls  to  city  churches.  One 
of  my  correspondents  left  his  position  as  instructor  in 
an  agricultural  college  to  become  pastor  of  a  country 
church;  one  country  pastor  of  my  acquaintance  has 
declined  an  invitation  to  become  president  of  a  col- 
lege; while  one  has  left  a  church  in  a  town  to  devote 
the  best  years  of  his  life  to  work  in  a  small  country 
parish. 

In  December,  19 14,  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Federal  Council  of  Churches  at  its  annual  meeting  de- 
termined to  create  a  Commission  to  whose  direction  its 
rural  work  should  be  entrusted.  At  their  meeting  on 
December  20th,  the  members  of  the  Committee  on 
Church  and  Country  Life  were  informed  that  they 
had  been  appointed  on  the  new  Commission,  and  the 
necessary  steps  were  taken  to  secure  the  nomination 
of  other  members  by  the  constituent  bodies  of  the 
Federal  Council.  In  order  to  secure  the  continuance 
of  the  work  already  begun,  a  Committee  of  Direction 
was  appointed.  The  work  is  now  under  the  super- 
vision of  this  committee. 

With  the  approval  of  the  Administrative  Com- 
mittee of  the  Federal  Council,  preparations  were  made 
for  a  Conference  on  Church  and  Country  Life  at  the 
time  of  this  meeting.    Eminent  representatives  of  the 


X  SECRETARIAL  PREFACE 

different  denominations  and  of  civic  and  moral 
progress  accepted  invitations  to  participate.  Among 
them  was  the  President  of  the  United  States,  who 
made  a  special  journey  from  Washington  to  Columbus 
in  order  to  be  present  and  make  an  address.  Nothing 
could  more  signally  reveal  the  importance  of  the 
church  to  the  well-being  of  the  country  than  this  act 
of  the  chief  executive  of  the  nation,  with  the  added 
emphasis  thus  given  to  the  principles  set  forth  in  his 
address. 

The  Committee  of  Direction  prepared  a  program  for 
this  Conference,  the  sessions  of  which  were  held  dur- 
ing the  morning,  afternoon,  and  evening  of  Decem- 
ber 8,  9,  and  lo,  19 15,  for  the  most  part  in  the  First 
Congregational  Church,  Columbus,  Ohio,  Dr.  Wash- 
ington Gladden,  pastor  emeritus,  offering  the  opening 
invocation.  Papers  carefully  written  were  read  and 
discussed,  and  in  the  light  of  the  discussion  have  now 
been  revised  for  publication.  The  address  of  the  Rev. 
Ralph  A.  Felton,  of  New  York  City,  on  "  The  Present 
Condition  of  the  Rural  Churches,"  is  not  included,  as 
no  copy  was  available  owing  to  unavoidable  causes. 

The  general  topics  covered  are  as  follows:  The 
Country  Church  as  a  Community  Center;  The  Allies 
of  the  Country  Church;  The  Function,  Policy,  and 
Program  of  the  Country  Church;  The  Training  of  the 
Rural  Ministry;  Financing  the  Country  Church; 
Church  Federation  and  Cooperation;  The  Church  and 
Rural  Economy;  The  Rural  Church  as  a  Vitalizing 
Agent. 

The  full  range  of  material  presented  at  the  Con- 


SECRETARIAL  PREFACE  xi 

ference,  with  the  names  of  those  submitting  the  re- 
ports and  contributing  papers  and  addresses,  can  be 
seen  under  Contents,  on  pages  iii,  iv.  The  report  on  the 
Function,  Platform,  and  Pohcy  of  the  Country  Church 
is  particularly  worthy  of  note.  The  material  upon 
which  it  is  based  was  gathered  by  correspondence  with 
one  hundred  and  fifty  persons  from  various  parts  of 
the  United  States  who  are  closely  associated  with  the 
country  church  and  its  work.  A  preliminary  digest  of 
this  material  was  made  by  Dr.  Wilbert  L.  Anderson, 
author  of  The  Country  Town.  The  sudden  death  of 
Dr.  Anderson  occurred  at  the  completion  of  this  stage 
of  the  work,  but  the  undertaking  was  continued  by 
Dr.  Butterfield  and  members  of  the  subcommittee 
especially  appointed  for  this  purpose,  while  a 
final  revision  was  made  by  the  Committee  on  Direc- 
tion. This  report  and  the  material  upon  which  it  is 
based  should  become  an  important  factor  in  Rural 
Church  progress. 

It  appears  from  our  observation  in  Ohio  that  in 
large  areas  the  denominations  working  independently 
of  one  another  have  failed  to  prevent  serious  decline 
in  the  rural  churches,  and  that  it  is  entirely  unlikely 
that  without  interdenominational  cooperation  the 
churches  will  be  able  to  overcome  the  difficulties  of 
the  situation.  If  this  is  true  in  Ohio,  and  in  other 
states  also,  the  need  of  interdenominational  organ- 
ization is  obvious. 

Charles  O.  Gill. 

Columbus,  Ohio, 

April  15,  1916. 


THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 


ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME 
Frank  B.  Willis 

Because  of  the  supreme  importance  of  the  welfare 
of  the  country  church  to  the  social  conditions  of  the 
community,  not  only  the  people  of  Ohio  but  the  people 
of  the  nation  everywhere  are  deeply  interested  in  the 
conference  which  begins  at  this  hour.  Close  to  the 
source  of  our  national  power  has  been  the  country 
church,  scattered  here  and  there  everywhere  through- 
out this  great  land.  The  movement  for  its  continua- 
tion and  preservation  and  for  the  increase  of  its  power 
is  one  of  the  most  favorable  signs  of  this  decade.  In 
this  movement  the  people  of  Ohio  are  very  deeply 
interested,  and  in  their  behalf  it  gives  me  much  pleas- 
ure to  welcome  to  the  city  of  Columbus  to-day  those 
who  are  to  participate  in  this  most  important  gathering. 

The  state  of  Ohio  has  always  been  deeply  inter- 
ested in  its  rural  churches.  No  other  factors  have 
played  a  more  significant  part  in  the  development  of 
the  history  of  Ohio,  in  the  making  of  its  splendid  man- 
hood and  womanhood,  than  the  little  churches  dotted 
here  and  there  over  every  county  and  in  almost  every 
township.  The  history  of  many  of  the  most  important 
churches  of  the  state  extends  back  to  the  time  when 
the  pioneers,  amid  great  hardships,  as  one  of  their  first 
achievements,  erected  a  log  church  and  school  in  the 


4      THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

midst  of  vast  wildernesses.  The  struggle  of  the  fa- 
thers to  rear  and  maintain  their  church  homes,  and  the 
influence  of  those  church  homes  upon  the  development 
of  the  people  of  this  great  state,  cannot  be  estimated. 

One  of  the  most  alarming  phases  of  the  splendid 
development  which  has  come  in  the  last  generation  has 
been  the  decline  of  interest  in  the  country  church. 
The  relief  from  the  former  isolation  of  farm  life,  the 
coming  of  modern  roads  with  the  automobile  and  its 
various  distractions,  the  near  approach  to  city  connec- 
tions, while  they  have  been  of  inestimable  benefit,  have 
created  for  the  country  church  entirely  new  problems 
which  it  has  somehow  failed  adequately  to  meet. 
Carefully  compiled  figures  seem  to  show  beyond  ques- 
tion that  the  rural  churches  in  Ohio  have  come  upon 
evil  times — that  they  have  ceased  to  grow,  that  eighty- 
three  per  cent,  have  a  membership  of  less  than  one 
hundred,  that  one  out  of  every  nine  country  churches 
has  been  abandoned  in  recent  years,  that  only  one 
third  are  increasing  in  membership,  and  that  two  thirds 
have  either  ceased  to  grow  or  are  dying.  It  seems 
especially  significant  to  me  that  the  figures  show  that 
less  than  forty  per  cent,  of  the  rural  population  are 
church  members.  Such  a  situation  is  one  that  demands 
the  concerted  and  undivided  attention  of  the  leaders 
in  church  thought  and  action. 

Such  a  conference  as  this,  therefore,  which  repre- 
sents the  best  thought  of  the  country  with  regard  to 
the  interests  of  the  rural  church,  commands  the  atten- 
tion of  every  man  interested  in  the  welfare  of  this 
and  other  states.     I  am  told  that  this  conference  is 


ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME  5 

especially  significant  because  it  is  the  first  nation-wide 
assembly  of  leaders  from  all  churches,  and  represents 
in  particular  all  rural  movements  to  consider  the  future 
of  country  life  with  particular  reference  to  the  church. 
Every  state,  I  am  informed,  is  represented  at  this 
meeting,  and  plans  are  to  be  formulated  for  a  local 
campaign  in  each  state  to  federate  country  churches 
and  to  eliminate  duplication  of  effort  and  expense. 
It  is  exceedingly  fortunate  that  this  plan  for  increased 
effectiveness  of  the  country  churches  is  to  be  a  con- 
certed plan,  and  that  there  is  such  universal  interest 
in  it.  The  problems  which  it  has  to  consider  lie  at  the 
very  heart  of  national  morality  and  accomplishment. 
It  would  be  an  evil  day  for  the  people  of  this  country 
if  those  who  live  on  the  farms  close  to  the  heart  of 
nature  and  of  God  are  to  drift  further  from  the  former 
enthusiastic  and  devoted  worship  of  religious  ideals. 
This  conference  could  present  no  greater  achievement 
than  the  adoption  of  a  plan  which  would  bring  about 
the  former  effective  influence  of  the  rural  church. 

But  this  cannot  be  brought  about  by  old  methods. 
The  day  of  three  and  four  small  churches  in  a  com- 
munity of  two  or  three  hundred  people  is  past.  The 
times  forbid  the  continuation  of  sectarian  differences 
that  agitated  and  at  times  disrupted  the  churches  of 
former  days.  This  problem  must  be  approached  in 
a  broad  way.  There  must  be  unification  of  effort;  un- 
important sectarian  distinctions  must  be  wiped  away; 
the  overlapping  of  territory  and  the  maintenance  of 
small  and  weak  churches  must  be  abandoned;  neigh- 
boring churches  of  all  denominations  must  work  to- 


6      THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

gether  for  the  solution  of  their  problems.  Social  con- 
ditions must  be  given  consideration.  It  is  not  enough 
that  the  church  do  Sunday  work;  it  must  make  its  ef- 
fectiveness felt  in  the  every-day  life  of  the  community. 
These  are  some  of  the  key-notes  for  this  convention. 
It  is  not  going  to  be  easy  to  work  out  these  problems, 
and  every  man  interested  in  the  state  of  Ohio,  as  well 
as  in  the  nation,  should  give  his  vigorous  support 
toward  reaching  a  wise  solution  of  the  questions  to 
be  considered  at  this  conference. 

I  am  indeed  glad  to  give  this  movement  my  hearty 
support  and  to  welcome  the  various  members  of  this 
convention  to  the  city.  It  is  my  trust  that  your  con- 
ferences together  may  result  in  efforts  of  widespread 
extent  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  rural  church. 


THE  PROBLEM 

Gifford  Pinchot 

There  can  be  no  permanently  sound  and  vigorous 
life  for  the  nation  unless  life  in  the  country  is  vigorous 
and  sound.  Country  life  cannot  be  morally  strong, 
physically  healthy,  attractive  in  its  social  opportunities 
and  business  returns,  and  generally  satisfying  and  ef- 
ficient unless  the  country  church  does  its  full  share 
to  make  it  so.  And  the  country  church  cannot  do  its 
part  unless  it  is  sound  and  vigorous  itself.  The  coun- 
try church  is  one  of  the  great  roots  from  which  spring 


THE  PROBLEM  7 

national  Integrity,  vitality,  and  intelligence.  Its  life 
and  power  are  of  nation-wide  concern. 

The  permanent  strength  of  any  civilization  is  best 
measured  by  the  soundness  of  life  on  the  land.  It  was 
the  failure  of  agriculture  far  more  than  the  decadence 
of  the  cities  that  sapped  the  power  of  ancient  Rome. 
The  farmer  feeds  and  clothes  us  all.  From  the  coun- 
try comes  the  strong  new  blood  which  renews  the 
vigor  of  the  towns.  The  tenacious  spiritual  ideals  of 
the  open  country  constitute  our  most  resisting  barrier 
against  the  growing  laxity  and  luxury  of  our  social 
organization.  It  is  the  country  church  rather  than  the 
city  church  which  is  in  fact  our  best  defense  against 
the  advance  of  the  evils  of  our  time. 

The  country  church  can  be  made  again  what  it  was 
during  the  early  days  in  New  England,  the  strongest 
power  not  only  for  righteousness,  which  it  is  now,  but 
also  for  the  general  success  of  country  life  and  for 
the  welfare  of  country  communities.  I  believe  that  we 
are  standing  to-day  on  the  threshold  of  a  great  move- 
ment which  will  bring  back  to  the  church  in  the  open 
country  and  in  the  smaller  towns  the  greater  power 
for  good  w^iich  it  used  to  have,  and  so  will  lead,  both 
spiritually  and  materially,  to  a  new  and  better  country 
life.  The  country  church  can  and  should  be  the  first 
and  strongest  of  all  agencies  in  furthering  the  advance 
of  rural  civilization. 

The  object  of  our  conference  is  to  strengthen  the 
country  church.  We  are  here  to  consider  its  present 
and  its  future,  the  functions  it  should  perform,  the  pol- 
icy it  should  follow,  the  training  of  its  leaders,  the  best 


8      THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

ways  to  organize  and  support  it.  We  shall  discuss  the 
performance  of  its  spiritual  task,  its  relation  to  the 
rural  communities  from  which  it  draws  its  strength, 
and  its  influence  toward  a  right  solution  of  the  social 
and  industrial  problems  of  rural  life.  In  a  word,  we 
are  here  to  ascertain  how  best  the  country  church  can 
help  to  bring  about  better  farming,  better  business,  and 
better  life,  including  religion,  in  the  country.  Nothing 
that  touches  for  good  or  evil  the  life  of  the  country 
people  can  be  alien  to  the  country  church. 

We  are  here  also  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Chris- 
tian people  of  the  United  States  to  the  existence  of 
the  country  church  problem,  and  to  ask  them  to  con- 
sider with  us  the  needs  of  the  country  church,  to  find 
out  how  best  to  meet  these  needs,  how  to  strengthen 
and  vitalize,  and,  above  all,  how  to  fit  the  country 
church  for  the  actual  modern  task  with  which  it  is  face 
to  face. 

This  conference,  called  by  the  Commiission  on 
Church  and  Country  Life  of  the  Federal  Council  of 
Churches,  is  the  result,  not  merely  of  the  work  of  the 
Commission,  but  also  of  the  far  larger  work,  both  in 
amount  and  time,  which  preceded  the  creation  of  the 
Commission,  one  year  ago.  It  may  be  said  to  trace  its 
origin  in  part  to  the  Roosevelt  Commission  on  Country 
Life,  in  part  to  the  admirable  work  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  acting  through  Dr.  Warren  H.  Wilson,  in 
part  to  that  of  Dr.  George  Frederick  Wells  for 
the  Federal  Council  of  Churches,  and  especially  to 
the  epoch-making  investigations  by  the  present  Secre- 
tary of  the  Commission,  the  Rev.  Charles  Otis  Gill,  of 


THE  PROBLEM  9 

the  conditions  and  needs  of  the  country  church  in  parts 
of  Vermont  and  New  York,  and  to  the  continuance  of 
these  investigations  in  Ohio.  But  these  are  far  from 
being  all.  Our  obligation  is  great  to  progressive  coun- 
try ministers  and  ecclesiastical  superintendents;  to  the 
Men  and  Religion  Movement  in  the  Methodist  Church 
and  among  the  Disciples  of  Christ  and  the  Baptists  of 
New  York  and  elsewhere;  to  the  work  of  the  Home 
Missions  Council;  to  the  social  service  work  of  the 
Moravians  and  the  Christians;  to  the  Country  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association;  and  to  the  work  of 
others  whom  I  have  not  named. 

We  are  not  here  to  advocate  the  weakening  or  the 
strengthening  of  any  denomination  at  the  expense  of 
any  other,  nor  have  we  any  theory  to  exploit  or  ax  to 
grind.  We  merely  seek  the  truth  about  conditions,  and 
remedies  that  are  both  wise  and  practicable.  We  have 
come  together  as  representatives  of  every  phase  of 
country  life  to  consider  and  discuss  cooperation  for 
the  common  welfare  of  religious  work  in  the  country, 
and  for  the  general  good  of  the  individuals  and  the 
communities  which  the  church  exists  to  serve.  We 
desire  the  prosperity  of  the  country  church,  not  only 
for  the  sake  of  the  church  itself,  but  also  for  what 
that  prosperity  can  be  made  to  accomplish  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  every  good  cause  in  the  country. 

Under  modern  conditions  the  spiritual  welfare  and 
progress  attainable  by  any  community  are  directly  af- 
fected by  its  material  prosperity.  Without  a  reason- 
able economic  margin  there  is  seldom  an  efficient  organ- 
ized  religious   life.     Good   farms   often   mean   good 


10  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

churches,  and  poor  farms  almost  always  mean  weak- 
ness and  inefficiency  in  the  country  church.  Where 
the  means  for  the  support  of  the  church  are  lacking, 
its  spiritual  efficiency  may  be  directly  in  question.  For 
its  own  sake  the  country  church  is  deeply  interested  in 
the  economic  success  of  its  people.  It  is  still  more 
deeply  interested  for  the  sake  of  the  people  themselves. 

The  problems  which  confront  us  can  no  more  be 
solved  by  the  individual  country  church,  or  by  the 
country  churches  of  any  one  denomination,  than  the 
problems  of  rural  life  can  be  solved  by  the  owner  of 
any  one  farm,  or  the  farmers  of  any  one  state.  In 
this  as  in  all  other  undertakings  among  men  union  is 
strength.  We  work  to  best  advantage  when  we  work 
together. 

If  cooperation  among  country  churches  for  the  gen- 
eral welfare  of  the  work  is  sound  and  wise,  and  if 
cooperation  among  farmers  will  lead  to  a  stronger  and 
richer  spiritual,  mental,  and  physical  life  on  the  farm, 
then  the  country  church  as  a  whole  is  interested  in  co- 
operation among  farmers.  I  do  not  contend  that  the 
church  should  take  the  functions  of  the  grange  or  of 
the  agricultural  school,  but  I  do  believe  that  the  fre- 
quent failure  of  the  country  churches  through  their 
ministers  to  get  into  productive  touch  with  the  work 
and  the  needs  of  the  country  people  is  one  of  the  funda- 
mental reasons  for  the  present  weakness  of  the  country 
church. 

The  movement  we  are  met  to  further  is  sound  and 
practical  in  its  purpose,  and  deeply  needed.  The  work 
which  lies  before  the  country  church  may  well  be  sec- 


THE  CHURCH  AND  COMMUNITY  BUILDING        ii 

ond  to  no  other  in  the  power  of  its  thrust  toward  a 
social  order  founded  on  the  ethics  of  Jesus  Christ. 


THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  COM- 
MUNITY BUILDING 

W.  F.  Richardson 

In  the  creed  known  as  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  the 
church  is  defined  as  follows :  "  The  visible  Church  of 
Christ  is  a  congregation  of  faithful  men,  in  the  which 
the  pure  Word  of  God  is  preached,  and  the  sacraments 
duly  ministered  according  to  Christ's  ordinance,  in 
all  those  things  that  of  necessity  are  requisite  to  the 
same."  Accurate  as  this  definition  may  be,  as  far  as 
it  goes,  it  is  not  complete  without  some  such  addition 
as,  ''  and  by  which  the  work  of  Jesus  Christ  in  and  for 
the  world  is  being  done."  The  faithful  men  who  com- 
pose the  Church  of  Christ  must  not  only  hear  the  Word, 
and  observe  the  sacraments,  but  bring  the  life  of  their 
Lord  to  bear  upon  the  world,  and  more  especially  upon 
the  immediate  community  for  which  they  are  most 
largely  responsible.  The  community  does  not  exist 
for  the  church,  but  the  church  for  the  community. 
Like  her  Lord,  the  church  exists  in  the  world,  not  to  be 
ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and  to  give  up  her 
life  for  the  ransoming  of  men.  The  great  church  is 
the  church  that  most  effectively  serves  men. 

A  community  is  ''  a  group  of  people  living  together," 


12  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

whether  in  city,  village,  or  country.  The  church  in 
such  a  community  must  be  directly  interested  in  all  the 
life  of  all  the  people  who  make  up  its  population. 
Their  homes,  their  occupations,  their  schools,  their 
habits  of  life,  their  ideals  of  character,  all  must  be  the 
concern  of  the  church.  May  it  not  be  that  much  of 
the  decadence  of  the  country  church  is  due  to  its  neg- 
lect of  this  divine  law,  and  its  effort  to  build  itself  up 
at  the  expense  of  the  community,  instead  of  building 
up  the  community  at  the  cost  of  its  own  sacrificial 
service  ? 

What  is  the  present  status  of  the  country  church? 
A  few  suggestive  facts  may  be  cited,  as  a  partial  an- 
swer. A  few  days  ago  an  Associated  Press  dispatch 
announced  briefly  some  results  of  a  survey  by  the  com- 
mission under  whose  auspices  we  are  met  to-day.  A 
study  of  rural  church  life  in  the  state  of  Ohio  led  to 
their  report,  that  one  in  nine  of  the  country  churches 
of  this  state  had  been  abandoned  during  the  past  few 
years;  that  only  one  in  three  of  the  remainder  was 
increasing  in  membership;  and  that  two  thirds  of  them 
had  ceased  growing  or  were  slowly  dying.  The  Pres- 
byterian Church  has  recently  conducted  a  similar  sur- 
vey, within  several  states,  from  Pennsylvania  to 
Missouri,  through  their  Department  of  Church  and 
Country  Life.  This  has  led  them  to  like  results.  In  the 
prosperous  state  of  Iowa  the  rural  churches  of  one  dis- 
trict reported  a  decrease  in  membership,  in  contribu- 
tions, in  resources,  and  in  value  of  church  buildings, 
and  an  increase  of  debt,  all  in  the  same  year.  The 
Disciples  of  Christ,  a  religious  body  which  is  distinctly 


THE  CHURCH  AND  COMMUNITY  BUILDING        13 

rural  in  its  predominant  membership,  is  facing  a 
critical  situation  in  its  country  churches.  Seventy-five 
per  cent,  of  its  congregations  and  over  forty  per  cent, 
of  its  membership  are  in  these  scattered  churches.  A 
large  proportion  of  these  churches  have  preaching  but 
once  a  month,  and  their  activities  are  often  limited  to 
the  occasion  of  this  monthly  visit  and  the  Sunday  wor- 
ship of  that  one  day.  The  total  annual  budget  of  these 
"  quarter  time  "  congregations  averages  but  $250,  of 
which  amount  $150  is  paid  to  the  preacher,  $37.50  is 
spent  for  a  revival  meeting,  $25  is  expended  upon  the 
Sunday-school,  $20  goes  for  incidentals,  and  $17.50  is 
contributed  to-  missions  and  benevolences.  In  view 
of  these  figures,  it  is  plain  to  be  seen  that  such  churches 
are  not  building  up  their  communities  to  any  con- 
siderable extent  nor  even  themselves  making  any 
perceptible  growth. 

Too  many  country  churches  have  no  larger  ideal 
than  to  maintain  Sunday  services,  more  or  less  regu- 
larly, and  a  Sunday-school  that  closes  during  the  winter 
months,  and  to  have  an  annual  revival  meeting.  Its 
ministry  to  the  social,  or  neighborhood,  life  is  seldom 
more  than  an  occasional  basket  dinner  or  picnic,  a 
possible  social  or  two  in  the  winter,  perhaps  a  sewing 
society  for  the  women  and  a  mission  band  for  the 
younger  children, — and  a  constant  watch  over  the 
young  people,  to  prevent  their  enjoyment  of  those 
"  worldly  amusements  "  toward  which  the  church  holds 
the  unvarying  attitude  of  hostility,  and  in  the  discus- 
sion of  which  they  are  wont  to  condense  the  decalogue 
of  moral  principles  into  the  monologue  of  '*  Don't." 


14  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

What  more  than  they  are  doing  may  the  country 
churches  do  for  their  several  communities  ? 

First,  there  should  be  constant  and  sympathetic  co- 
operation between  city  and  country  churches.  The  oft- 
occurring  jealousy  with  which  the  country  church  re- 
gards the  city  church,  which  is  sometimes  met  by  the 
ill-concealed  contempt  of  the  latter  for  the  former,  is 
as  unfortunate  as  it  is  unholy.  The  city  church  is 
swiftly  becoming  an  expert  in  certain  forms  of  com- 
munity service,  from  which  the  rural  churches  might 
well  learn  something  of  how  to  do  their  task.  While 
the  environment  is  entirely  different,  the  human  nature 
with  which  each  has  to  deal  is  exactly  the  same.  Then, 
too,  the  country  is  constantly  contributing  to  the  young 
and  aggressive  life  of  the  city,  into  which  flows  a 
steady  stream  that  by  its  very  volume  threatens  to 
make  the  current  of  urban  life  a  destructive  torrent. 
Ninety  per  cent,  of  the  ministers  and  missionaries  of 
the  church  come  from  rural  and  village  communities. 
And  it  is  a  fact  well  known  among  social  workers  that 
many  of  the  young  men  and  women  who  come  from 
the  farms  into  the  city  help  to  fill  the  ranks  of  those 
who  fall  victims  to  the  evil  forces  of  our  modern  so- 
ciety. If  every  boy  and  girl  from  the  farm  and  coun- 
try hamlet  were  accompanied  by  a  letter  from  the  rural 
church  to  the  city  church  with  which  it  is  in  regular 
correspondence,  it  would  save  many  a  life  to  the  vir- 
tues of  the  home  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

The  country  church  must  study  its  local  environ- 
ment with  the  view  of  adapting  its  ministry  thereto. 
The  Salt  River  Presbytery  in  Missouri,  a  rural  pres- 


THE  CHURCH  AND  COMMUNITY  BUILDING        15 

bytery,  finding  that  it  had  during  the  last  ten  years  lost 
twenty  per  cent,  in  membership,  adopted  the  following 
recommendation :  "  We  recommend  that  the  churches 
concern  themselves  with  the  farmer's  road  to  the  near- 
est village,  as  well  as  his  road  to  Glory  Land.  We 
recommend  that  they  concern  themselves  with  the  task 
of  promoting  cooperative  business  among  the  farmers. 
We  recommend  that  they  help  in  the  war  against  dis- 
ease. And,  wherever  there  is  such  need,  we  recom- 
mend that  they  make  provision  for  the  social  life  of 
their  people  and  provide  wholesome  recreation."  Is 
there  a  single  item  in  this  statement  that  does  not 
concern  the  church  of  the  country  district?  Good 
roads  are  as  essential  to  the  requirements  of  religious 
worship  and  social  brotherhood  as  to  the  profits  of  the 
field  and  orchard.  Cooperation  of  the  farmers  in  their 
business  life  will  directly  minister  to  their  spirit  of 
social  fellowship.  Their  united  war  against  disease 
will  teach  them  new  values  in  the  life  that  now  is  and 
certainly  detract  nothing  from  the  value  of  that  which 
is  to  come. 

The  country  church  must  provide  for  the  social  life 
of  the  community.  Rowdyism  and  immorality  among 
the  young  are  due  to  misdirected  energy.  Young  life 
will  not  be  inactive.  The  school  and  church  are  the 
two  natural  social  centers,  and  the  church  ought  to  feel 
the  double  compulsion  of  human  want  and  divine  love. 
To  neglect  the  young  is  to  invite  their  contempt  for 
the  church.  A  study  of  ninety-one  rural  churches  in 
Indiana  showed  that  twenty-five  of  them  had  not  one 
male  communicant  under  twenty-one.    In  Illinois,  only 


i6  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

thirteen  per  cent,  of  the  young  people  were  found  at- 
tending the  Sunday-school.  In  Maryland,  fifty-seven 
per  cent,  of  the  rural  churches  have  no  sort  of  organ- 
ization for  the  young  people  of  their  communities.  In 
the  cities,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  and 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association  contribute  their 
splendid  ministries  to  young  life;  but  there  is  just 
where  the  churches  are  themselves  doing  most  to  meet 
this  demand.  In  the  country  little  chance  is  given  for 
such  unsectarian  service,  because  the  churches  are  too 
feeble  to  undertake  the  work  alone,  and  have  too  much 
of  the  sectarian  spirit  to  attempt  to  do  it  together. 
Why  should  not  the  country  churches  unite  to  do  such 
work  in  an  effective  way  ?  Then  they  could  have  their 
baseball  clubs.  Scout  bands,  debating  societies,  stere- 
opticon  lectures,  lyceum  courses,  and,  everywhere,  na- 
ture study,  that  noblest  pathway  of  all  in  which  to  lead 
the  young  mind  and  heart  up  to  a  knowledge  of  and 
love  for  the  Creator  and  Father  of  all.  If  there  could 
be  an  elimination  of  some  of  the  superfluous  church 
organizations  in  the  rural  districts,  it  would  help  to 
attain  this  end.  In  the  heart  of  Missouri,  in  one  of 
its  richest  counties,  there  are  sixty-seven  country 
churches,  or  one  for  every  forty-six  farm  families. 
One  fourth  as  many  would  be  ample  to  meet  the  needs 
of  the  county.  There  is  but  one  resident  pastor  among 
the  sixty-seven  churches.  Many  of  them  are  minis- 
tered to  by  preachers  who  travel  weary  miles  to  bring 
them  the  monthly  sermons  upon  which  they  try  to  live 
their  feeble  lives.  Cooperation  and  consolidation  or 
lingering  decay  and  final  death  must  be  the  result  of 


THE  CHURCH  AND  COMMUNITY  BUILDING       17 

such  conditions.  These  churches  must  cease  to  be 
rivals  and  become  partners,  or  God  will  smite  them 
with  barrenness  and  death.  In  many  cities  the  people 
are  drawing  more  closely  together  in  their  social  and 
community  life.  Witness  the  community  Christmas 
trees  in  Washington  City,  New  York,  Houghton, 
Michigan,  and  other  larger  and  smaller  communities. 
With  ringing  of  the  church  bells  and  the  singing  of 
Christmas  carols  by  chorus  choirs,  in  which  the  hosts 
that  crowd  the  streets  join  lustily,  the  birthday  of  our 
Lord  is  ushered  in,  and  the  brotherhood  of  men  is  made 
a  blessed  fact  of  consciousness  to  thousands  of  human 
hearts.  Why  should  not  this  become  the  universal 
practise  among  the  churches  that  minister  to  the  scat- 
tered brothers  and  sisters  in  our  Father's  family? 

That  such  ministry  to  the  community  on  the  part  of 
the  country  church  is  not  an  "  irridescent  dream  "  is 
shown  by  many  encouraging  facts.  The  country 
churches  are  waking  to  their  opportunity  and  duty, 
and  in  many  quarters  there  is  fruitful  activity  in  the 
direction  of  social  betterment.  In  a  general  way  it 
may  be  said  that  in  many  cases  where  abandoned  coun- 
try churches  draw  forth  the  unfavorable  comment  of 
the  passer-by,  investigation  shows  that  the  old  building 
has  been  left  for  a  new  and  better  one,  adapted  to 
modern  methods  of  church  activity,  and  put  to  gen- 
erous use  for  service  to  all  around  it.  With  the 
growth  in  wealth  and  increasing  thrift  in  many  rural 
districts,  the  farmers  drive  their  carriages  and  auto- 
mobiles into  the  adjacent  towns,  where  their  children 
attend  the  high  school,  and  their  families  are  enabled 


i8  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

to  enjoy  the  ministry  of  abler  preachers  than  they 
were  permitted  to  hear  in  the  old  country  meeting- 
houses. To  quote  the  language  of  the  editor  of  a  great 
religious  weekly,  written  to  a  friend :  "  What  I  told 
you  even  two  years  ago  would  not  be  true  to-day. 
The  tide  has  turned,  and  religion  has  taken  a  fresh 
grip  on  the  country,  where  it  seemed  about  to  let  go." 

Let  us  come  to  specific  instances,  of  which  there  are 
not  a  few.  In  the  rural  village  of  Maroa,  Macon 
County,  Illinois,  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  a  gym- 
nasium, free  baths,  and  a  public  reading-room;  con- 
ducts a  cooking  class  for  girls  and  women;  makes 
regular  use  of  a  stereopticon  and  moving-picture  ma- 
chine; and  has  given  its  basement  story  to  the  school 
authorities  to  relieve  the  pressure  on  the  public  schools 
of  the  surrounding  district.  This  is  a  fine  specimen  of 
community  building. 

At  Yancey,  in  the  western  Blue  Ridge  district  of 
Virginia,  was  a  rural  mission  church  to  which  there 
came,  in  1905,  a  young  and  ardent  home  missionary, 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Ellis.  He  found  a  community  steeped 
in  ignorance  and  cursed  by  wretched  poverty.  Their 
homes  were  poor  and  unsanitary,  their  fields  half- 
cultivated,  their  children  growing  up  without  educa- 
tion or  moral  and  spiritual  training.  One  small  school- 
room, where  an  average  of  fifteen  children  listlessly 
studied  for  but  five  months  out  of  the  year,  was  the 
only  chance  for  education  afforded  by  the  community. 
He  opened  a  school  in  the  church  building  he  erected, 
making  it  a  social  center  to  which  all  the  people  were 
made  welcome.    Soon  there  were  from  eighty  to  ninety 


THE  CHURCH  AND  COMMUNITY  BUILDING        19 

pupils,  who  sought  to  prolong  the  brief  term  of  study 
by  several  months.  He  raised  money  to  build  a  mod- 
ern three-room  schoolhouse  and  hitched  it  up  with  the 
public  school  system  of  the  state.  This  school  is  now 
graded  from  the  kindergarten  through  the  eighth 
grade,  employing  five  competent  teachers.  He  estab- 
lished sewing  classes  for  mothers  and  daughters,  and 
their  calico  wrappers  and  sunbonnets  are  now  replaced 
with  better  and  more  attractive  garments.  Under- 
clothing was  unknown  among  the  people  until  his 
school  began  making  such  garments  for  the  children, 
to  their  universal  delight  and  comfort.  The  first  un- 
dergarments the  mothers  saw  they  looked  upon  with 
amazement,  asking,  "  What  are  they  for?  "  By  cook- 
ing classes  the  mothers  have  been  instructed  in  the 
preparation  of  palatable  and  nourishing  food  to  take 
the  place  of  the  former  universal  diet  of  greasy  pork 
and  corn  pone.  Homes  and  public  buildings  have  been 
put  in  sanitary  condition,  and  noticeable  improvement 
in  the  health  of  the  entire  community  has  resulted.  In 
a  neighboring  district  an  Episcopal  Church  sustains  an 
emergency  hospital,  where  lives  are  often  saved  by 
reason  of  its  accessibility  in  cases  of  accident  or  sudden 
illness.  It  needs  no  saying  that  the  comforts  of  the 
homes  have  been  greatly  increased;  carpets,  stoves, 
and  other  common  necessities,  once  unknown,  are 
found  almost  everywhere.  Like  transformations  are 
being  wrought  in  many  neighborhoods,  in  sundry  states 
of  our  Union.  These  will  suffice  as  examples  of  what 
is  possible  in  community  building,  to  the  country 
church  that  is  conscious  of  and  faithful  to  its  mission. 


20  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

In  closing,  let  me  say  that,  in  my  judgment,  the  solu- 
tion of  this  problem  waits  upon  the  provision  of  an 
adequate  pastoral  care  for  the  country  church. 
And  this  depends  upon  an  adequate  education  of 
a  ministry  for  the  rural  field.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary that  the  country  pastor  should  be  a  specialist 
in  agriculture  or  in  stock-raising.  But  he  must 
know  something  of  the  elements  that  enter  into 
the  daily  life  and  toil  of  his  parishioners,  he  must  be 
familiar  with  such  sociological  principles  as  enter  into 
community  life,  and  he  must  have  a  heart  full  of  sym- 
pathy with  and  interest  in  the  children  of  the  soil. 
Prof.  Alva  W.  Taylor,  of  the  Missouri  Bible  College, 
in  his  "  Bulletin  No.  i  of  the  Commission  of  Social 
Service  and  the  Rural  Church,  of  the  Disciples  of 
Christ,"  says :  ''  The  ultimate  hope  of  the  rural  church, 
as  of  every  church,  and  of  the  school,  and  of  every 
other  public  institution,  is  in  an  educated  leadership. 
.  .  .  The  first  requisite  lies  in  the  seminary  and  col- 
lege that  trains  the  ministry.  The  pastor  needs  a 
knowledge  of  the  field  as  well  as  of  the  things  he  is 
to  preach.  .  .  .  If  we  are  to  have  an  educated  rural 
ministry,  we  must  have  an  education  for  the  rural 
ministry;  that  means  a  curriculum  that  gives  the 
knowledge  of  sociology  and  of  rural  life,  as  well  as 
of  theology  and  sermonizing."  It  is  well  that  certain 
of  our  educational  institutions  are  turning  their  atten- 
tion toward  the  supplying  of  this  need.  Every  such 
institution  that  devotes  special  attention  to  the  train- 
ing of  the  gospel  ministry  ought  to  endeavor  to  lend 
a  hand  in  fitting  our  country  churches  better  to  fulfil 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       21 

their  task  of  building  up  the  communities  where  the 
Lord  of  the  church  has  planted  them. 


THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY 
CENTER 

{Report  of  Committee) 

Edwin  L.  Earp,  Chairman,  Edmund  de  S.  Brun- 
NER,  Fred  Eastman,  C.  J.  Galpin,  A.  R.  Mann, 
Anna  B.  Taft. 

The  subject  of  this  report,  as  we  understand  it, 
refers  to  the  church  in  the  rural  community,  or  it  may 
imply  the  task  of  the  country  church  in  creating  a  com- 
munity where  there  is  none,  or  the  task  of  giving 
Christian  leadership  to  a  community  already  socially 
conscious,  but  in  danger,  as  in  some  cases,  of  becoming 
pagan  unless  the  church  fulfils  its  function. 

Clarence  Poe  says,  ''  The  chief  task  of  the  rural  re- 
former to-day  is  the  creation  of  the  rural  community." 
Mr.  George  W.  Russell,  in  The  Irish  Homestead,  says, 
''  The  difficulty  of  moving  the  countryman,  which  has 
become  traditional,  is  not  due  to  the  fact  that  he  lives 
in  the  country,  but  to  the  fact  that  he  lives  in  an  unor- 
ganized society."  Why  are  we  focusing  our  attention 
to-day  upon  the  rural  life  of  the  nation?  Because  it 
not  only  includes  over  one  half  (fifty-three  per  cent.) 
of  the  population  of  this  country,  but  it  also  represents 


22  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

the  great  resource  field  of  the  nation's  wealth.  It  is 
here  also  we  discover  such  splendid  heroic  individ- 
uality as  has  produced  the  largest  percentage  of  moral, 
religious,  industrial,  and  political  leadership  of  all  the 
ages,  and  yet  at  the  same  time  we  discover  national 
waste  of  resources,  natural,  human,  and  spiritual,  be- 
cause here  we  find  the  least  of  community  interest  and 
cooperation. 

Why  are  we  discussing  so  often  in  these  days  the 
problems  of  the  country  church?  Because  in  many 
sections  of  our  country  it  presents  to  us  one  of  the 
most  difficult  mission  fields  of  the  world  to  cultivate 
because,  like  the  slums  of  the  great  cities,  it  is  a  lost 
home  field.  As  one  goes  back  to  his  home  county  in 
the  rural  sections  of  the  eastern,  southern,  and  some 
of  the  middle  western  states,  what  does  he  discover? 
The  splendid  old  circuit  system  broken  up  and  the 
fires  of  religious  fervor  gone  out  upon  many  abandoned 
church  and  family  altars,  and  the  message  of  the  min- 
ister in  the  neglected  pulpit  of  the  dilapidated  church 
building  about  as  effective  in  creating  a  community 
spirit  as  the  noise  of  a  lone  woodpecker  on  a  dead  tree 
in  a  swamp.  Why  is  this  so?  Because  of  population 
change  through  population  movement,  while  there  has 
been  little  if  any  change  in  the  methods  of  church 
work  to  meet  the  changing  needs  of  these  localities. 
The  country  church  of  the  pioneer  period  selected 
methods  and  men  to  meet  the  needs  of  that  time.  The 
country  church  of  to-day  will  succeed  when  it  adopts 
this  policy.  Then  the  preacher  was  a  moving  tie; 
to-day  he  must  be  the  central  cell  of  a  new  social 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       2Z 

nucleus.  The  circuit  system  in  most  rural  communi- 
ties has  ceased  to  be  effective  as  it  was  then.  The 
meeting-house  (may  we  preserve  the  idea  if  not  the 
name)  is  still  essential;  but  it  must  be  more  than  a 
meeting-place — it  must  become  the  center  for  the  or- 
ganized expression  of  the  whole  community  life.  The 
circuit  rider  was  a  heroic  and  necessary  social  agent 
then ;  he  is  so  no  longer.  To-day  we  need  a  new  heroic 
type  of  country  preacher  who  has  the  courage  to  stay 
camped  in  one  community  until  by  religious  instruc- 
tion and  social  service  he  has,  like  John  Frederick 
Oberlin,  built  up  in  one  whole  sweep  of  country  a 
new  rural  civilization  in  which  the  character  of  Christ 
is  the  badge  of  good  citizenship. 

The  country  preacher  of  to-day  confronting  his 
task,  hard  as  it  may  seem,  must  have  the  vision  of  his 
church  as  a  community  center  and  the  sense  of  per- 
sonal responsibility  as  to  his  work  as  the  prophet 
Isaiah  had  in  reference  to  the  religious  center  of  a 
rural  folk  living  in  a  territory  no  larger  than  the  state 
of  New  Jersey :  "  For  Zion's  sake  will  I  not  hold  my 
peace,  and  for  Jerusalem's  sake  I  will  not  rest,  until 
her  righteousness  go  forth  as  brightness,  and  her  sal- 
vation as  a  lamp  that  burneth  "  (Isa.  Ixii.  i).  Here 
we  get  the  conception  that  the  church  is  an  attractive 
force  and  a  saving  agency  in  the  community  in  which 
the  man  of  God  most  profitably  can  invest  his  whole 
life. 

We  wish  to  present  as  briefly  as  possible  (i)  The 
Community  Church  as  it  should  be,  (2)  The  Social 
Center  Parish  Plan,  (3)  Some  encouraging  examples 


24  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

of  Community  Serving  Churches,  (4)  Recommenda- 
tions, (5)  References  to  Literature  on  the  subject. 

I.    The  Church  in  the  Community 

Keep  in  mind  the  declaration  of  the  prophet  given 
above.  The  church  in  the  first  place  should  stand  as 
an  attractive  force  in  the  community.  Its  building  and 
equipment,  its  organization,  its  policy,  the  things  for 
which  it  stands,  its  ideals  for  membership  and  work 
should  all  be  arranged  with  the  view  of  attracting  the 
people  of  the  community,  "  Until  her  righteousness 
go  forth  as  brightness." 

The  greatest  peril  the  church  of  the  present  has  to 
face  in  the  community  is  not  the  hostility  of  the  people, 
but  their  indifference;  the  peril  of  unattractiveness  to 
those  who  need  her  fellowship — the  peril  of  being  let 
alone  by  the  multitudes.  The  building  should  be  so 
constructed  as  to  attract  the  people.  The  work  should 
be  so  organized  as  to  render  service  to  the  entire  com- 
munity. If  there  should  exist  any  form  of  unright- 
eousness in  the  community,  the  church  should  be  so 
organized  as  to  create  a  public  opinion  that  will  hit  it 
hard,  remove  the  evil,  and  establish  righteousness. 

Her  policy  should  not  be  that  of  a  class-conscious 
group,  but  rather  that  of  the  community  spirit  which 
stands  for  social  justice.  The  community  church  must 
have  an  ideal  that  should  be  more  attractive  at  least 
than  the  platform  of  any  political  party,  or  social  or- 
ganization, or  socialistic  program. 

In  the  second  place  the  church  should  be  a  saving 
agency,  an  active  power  in  the  community.     (Until 


I 

THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       25 

her  salvation  gO'  forth  as  a  lamp  that  burneth. )  This, 
of  course,  involves  what  the  church  proposes  to  do  in 
the  community. 

Its  first  task  should  be  the  endeavor  to  reconcile  the 
erring  souls  to  God  through  the  person  and  work  of 
Jesus  Christ  as  Savior  and  Lord,  but  more  and  more 
in  our  time  should  the  church  perform  her  teaching 
function  by  acquainting  the  children  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment  with  Jesus  Christ  their  Savior.  This 
can  be  done  by  the  well-organized  Sunday-school,  and 
by  special  emphasis  upon  parental  obligation  in  the 
home.  Later,  when  we  get  over  the  selfishness  of 
sectarianism,  we  shall  be  able  to  organize  adequately 
for  religious  instruction  in  connection  with  the  public 
school  system. 

The  church  should  become  a  saving  agency  also  by 
organizing  the  recreational  and  play  life  of  the  people. 
It  should  stand  for  wholesome  and  clean  amusement 
halls  and  the  organized  playground  for  school  and 
community  at  large. 

The  church  should  seek  to  give  a  religious  signifi- 
cance to  all  the  legitimate  forms  of  social  service  in 
the  community  by  furnishing  intelligent  Christian 
leadership;  for  example,  in  the  work  of  the  depart- 
ment of  public  health,  the  enforcement  of  welfare 
legislation,  the  prosecution  of  the  procurer  in  vice,  and 
in  the  support  of  all  good  means  for  the  betterment 
of  the  life  of  the  wage-earner,  and  the  men  and  women 
in  public  employment. 

In  fact  the  time  has  come  when  the  church  can  no 
longer  maintain  its  self-respect  unless  it  burns  as  a 


26  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

lamp  of  righteousness  in  making  quick  the  public 
conscience  with  regard  to  human  rights  and  social 
justice. 

If  we  are  ever  to  have  the  rule  of  Christ  in  human 
society — which  means  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth — 
we  must  have  every  man  and  woman  doing  the 
necessary  and  legitimate  work  of  the  world  with  the 
consciousness  that  it  is  a  part  of  the  work  of  the 
kingdom.  This  was  Paul's  ideal  when  he  said, ''  What- 
soever ye  do,  do  all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus." 
The  church-members  who  have  helped  to  formulate 
the  program  of  the  church  for  the  community  must 
stand  together  for  action  that  will  count  in  making 
the  work  of  the  church  real  in  the  community. 

In  the  well-organized  community  church  it  is  no 
longer  possible  for  the  membership  to  stand  idle  in  the 
market-place  of  Christian  work  and  say,  *'  No  man 
hath  hired  us,"  for  there  is  some  form  of  activity  in 
the  church's  program  in  which  every  member  can  take 
an  active  part;  and,  besides,  we  are  still  left  that  broad 
range  of  individual  initiative  to  keep  ourselves  active 
in  doing  the  work  of  the  kingdom  so  that  we  will  be 
without  excuse. 

The  time  has  gone  by  when  enlightened  people  are 
going  to  be  satisfied  merely  with  church  buildings  and 
programs.  When  Jesus  announced  his  great  social 
program  from  a  pulpit  in  Capernaum,  the  people  said, 
"  What  gracious  words  proceed  from  his  mouth !  " 
But  Jesus  said,  "  To-day  hath  this  scripture  been  ful- 
filled in  your  ears."  We  are  not  to  stop  there :  we  must 
so  speak  and  act — the  church  of  the  community  must 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       27 

so  organize  its  forces  and  work  that  the  people  will  be 
compelled  to  say,  ''  To-day  is  Christ's  program  being 
carried  out  in  our  community." 

INDIVIDUAL   VIEWS    OF    THE    CHURCH    AS    A 
COMMUNITY    CENTER 

Anna  B.  Taft 

The  first  element  in  the  church  as  a  community 
center  is  that  its  service  should  be  to  the  whole  com- 
munity :  the  translating  of  the  gospel  to  the  neighbor- 
hood through  its  members  and  organizations.  It  can 
attain  this  end  best  by  ministering,  as  our  Lord  min- 
istered, to  those  in  danger  in  the  community,  by  the 
saving  of  whom  the  prosperity  and  wholesomeness  of 
the  community  are  assured.  These  are  usually  the 
young  people,  newcomers,  the  poor,  the  defective,  and 
the  sick.  For  the  young,  the  church  should  recognize 
and  minister  to  the  natural  social  and  religious  in- 
stinct of  the  boys  and  girls;  supply  them  with  whole- 
some forms  of  recreation  through  organized  play, 
clubs,  and  socials  of  various  kinds;  and  provide  oppor- 
tunities for  religious  education  and  worship. 

For  newcomers,  the  church  should  provide  such 
fostering  care  and  welcome  that  they  soon  may  become 
residents  having  a  part  and  interest  in  upbuilding  the 
kingdom  in  the  community. 

For  the  poor,  she  should  offer  such  ministry  in  the 
community  that  actual  cases  of  want  may  be  met  by 
the  church  and  should  establish  such  a  neighborhood 
life  that  poverty  will  be  abolished,  and  the  gospel  of  a 
just  economic  condition  will  be  established. 


28  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

For  the  sick  and  defective,  she  should  furnish  such 
care  as  isolated  cases  demand  and  conduct  such  a  cam- 
paign for  public  health  as  shall  abolish  illness,  as  far 
as  possible,  from  the  community. 

In  the  open  country  and  small  village  the  numerous 
religious  and  welfare  organizations  of  the  city  and 
large  town  are  unnecessary  and  impracticable.  The 
church  can  be  the  community  center.  Where  there 
is  more  than  one  church,  they  should  work  together 
for  the  common  good  of  the  commtmity,  but  when  this 
is  impossible,  each  church  should  make  its  service  con- 
tribute to  the  welfare  of  the  community  as  a  whole. 

^'A.  R.  Mann 

Every  church  is  a  community  center  in  some  degree, 
for  the  fact  that  it  represents  a  group  interest  consti- 
tutes it  a  center  around  which  persons  sharing  this 
interest  in  sufficient  degree  group  themselves.  It 
seems  to  me  that  this  constitutes  the  basis  on  which 
its  influence  as  a  community  center  is  to  be  extended. 
Only  in  so  far  as  persons  in  the  community  can  be 
brought  tO'  share  in  this  interest  will  the  church  be  a 
group  center  for  them.  The  church  must  begin,  there- 
fore, by  thoroughly  leavening  its  present  group,  and 
by  gradual  accretion  extend  its  circle  of  influence. 

The  gradual  working  out  of  a  consistent  program 
from  within  will,  I  believe,  accomplish  both  more  ef- 
fective and  more  permanent  results  than  any  grand- 
stand plan  or  assumption  of  community  leadership. 
Viewing  the  situation  from  this  standpoint  will  aid 
also  in  determining  the  possible  limits  to  which  the 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       29 

church  can  become  a  center,  by  reveahng  at  once  cer- 
tain groups  or  interests  that  cannot  reasonably  be  ex- 
pected to  be  brought  into  the  circle  of  interest  about  a 
given  Protestant  church  under  our  present  organiza- 
tion. The  larger  community  of  interest  cannot  be  as- 
sumed; it  must  be  fostered  and  often  created.  The 
church  has  a  particularly  vulnerable  point  of  approach 
because  it  has  an  appeal  to  the  emotional  and  senti- 
mental nature  of  man,  through  which  the  higher  spirit- 
ual nature  may  be  aroused. 

In  order  that  a  church  may  become  a  community 
center  in  any  large  way  it  must  engage  a  ministry 
capable  of  discovering  the  community  interests  and 
tendencies  in  their  pure  form,  of  ascertaining  the  pur- 
poses for  which  men  come  together  in  the  community, 
and  how  the  church  can  intelligently  cooperate  in  the 
furthering  of  those  interests  so  far  as  they  are  legiti- 
mate. A  thorough  and  appreciative  understanding  of 
the  interests  that  move  the  community  is  a  first  step, 
and  the  necessary  foundation  of  any  progress.  Only 
thus  can  the  church  know  what  activities  it  should  im- 
mediately promote  or  what  it  should  leave  to  other 
agencies. 

Many  churches  will  have  to  be  content  with  being 
a  community  center.  Some,  under  special  favorable 
circumstances,  can  attain  unto  the  community  center. 
There  should  be  caution  not  to  seek  self-aggrandize- 
ment at  the  expense  of  the  highest  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity or  other  existing  interests.  A  church  that  un- 
dermines another  legitimate  institution  to  promote  its 
own  needs  is  likely  to  fail  in  the  effort.     The  church 


30  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

should  be  viewed  as  a  means,  not  as  an  end  in  itself. 
Many  a  church  has  gone  on  the  rocks  through  making 
itself  an  end  rather  than  a  means.  It  can  attain  its 
highest  service  side  by  side  with  other  legitimate 
interests. 

Community  center  means  not,  as  many  have  thought, 
the  bringing  of  everything  into  the  church,  but  rather 
spreading  the  influence  of  the  church  out  into  the  com- 
munity and  into  everything  affecting  men's  lives.  The 
"  bringing  in  "  idea  tends  to  make  the  church  an  end 
in  itself.  The  "  bringing  in  "  will  be  an  inevitable 
result  of  spending  itself  in  service. 

A  church  that  is  to  be  a  center  must  consent  to  a 
wider  and  freer  use  of  its  plant  than  is  often  the  case. 
An  over-restrictive  policy  here  is  hurtful  to  the  ven- 
ture. Frequently  the  parsonage  can  supplement  the 
church  in  this  respect;  the  parsonage  contributes  much 
to  the  social  center  at  the  church,  and  we  must  con- 
ceive of  the  parsonage  in  a  larger  way.  The  human 
touch  is  here,  and  persons  respond  freely  to  the  human 
element.  For  some  purposes  the  parsonage  can  be 
made  very  much  less  impersonal  than  the  church  build- 
ing. The  houses  of  members  are  a  close  second  to 
the  parsonage.  The  best  center  is  where  persons  live. 
The  church  can  multiply  its  centrality  through  an  in- 
telligent use  of  its  constituent  homes.  To  many  per- 
sons the  church  building  is  too  impersonal.  By  advo- 
cating such  use  I  do  not  mean  to  lessen  the  wider  use 
of  the  church  plant,  but  to  supplement  it. 

A  center  must  have  continuity.  No  success  follows 
centers  with  short  pastorates.    The  possibility  of  being 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       31 

a  center  is  directly  proportional  to  the  length  of  pas- 
torates. Hence,  also,  arises  the  importance  of  mem- 
bers' homes  in  helping  to  carry  over  changes  in 
pastorates. 

The  church  should  seek  to  set  forward  the  larger 
influences  that  will  tie  a  community  into  a  real  group 
and  thus  aid  in  a  complete  community  socialization. 
What  these  influences  are  will  have  to  be  determined 
for  each  locality.  Federation  of  local  forces  for  com- 
munity building  will  often  be  a  needed  task. 

Edmund  de  S.  Brunner 

The  church  is  a  part  of  the  community  and  as  such 
depends  upon  it  for  support  and  constituency.  Every 
phase  of  community  life,  whether  it  will  or  not,  rests 
on  the  church. 

Ideally  the  church  should  affect  all  the  adverse  ele- 
ments in  the  community  life  rather  than  be  affected 
by  them.  The  struggle  toward  this  goal  will  involve 
a  number  of  things.  The  church  must  have  a  sympa- 
thetic interest  in  the  economic,  recreational,  educa- 
tional, hygienic,  civic,  and  moral  life  of  its  community. 

This  means  that  the  church  will  be  the  spiritual 
dynamo,  furnishing  its  members  with  power  adequate 
to  the  task  of  bringing  the  Christ  spirit  into  all  phases 
of  community  life.  The  high  responsibility  of  the 
church  is  ever  for  spiritual  leadership  equal  alike  to 
the  heights  and  depths  of  human  experience  as  well  as 
to  the  level  of  each  day's  need. 

But  it  must  also  mean  much  more.  The  church  may 
have  to  translate  its  sympathy  with  community  life  in 


32  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

terms  of  service  for  it  as  an  organization.  Lacking 
another  place,  it  should  open  its  doors  to  community 
meetings  of  every  worthy  description.  It  should  place 
its  plant  in  the  hands  of  the  community  as  a  recrea- 
tional asset,  even  though  this  may  mean  enlarging  the 
building;  and  in  other  ways  it  should  meet  all  those 
needs  which,  unmet,  would  react  for  ill  upon  the  life 
of  the  community  and  thus  upon  the  church. 

Conditions  Favorable  to  Rural  Church  Centers 
C.  J.  Galpin 

A  community  church. — The  most  favorable  condi- 
tion for  a  church  center  is  the  existence  of  only  one 
church  in  the  territory,  either  large  neighborhood  in 
open  country,  or  community  of  village  center  type, 
where  the  church  is  well  thought  of,  is  backed  by  all 
elements  of  the  population,  and  is  willing  to  assume 
leadership  'in  providing  the  building  and  equipment  for 
the  people's  social  life  and  general  recreative  and  in- 
forming enterprises. 

Clergyman  a  social  middleman. — The  clergyman  is 
in  a  sense  a  public  servant  paid  by  the  people,  and 
should  have  many  qualifications  for  social  welfare 
leadership.  Where  he  has  the  confidence  of  his  com- 
munity as  well  as  of  his  parish,  he  has  opportunity  for 
the  use  of  all  his  social  surplus  energy. 

Family  ideal. — The  permanence  and  organization  of 
the  church,  comprising  as  it  does  the  family  circle,  and 
open  as  it  is  to  all  ages  and  both  sexes,  especially 
adapt  it  to  become  the  medium  of  a  democratic  social 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       33 

life,  providing  it  has  the  liberality  of  view  which  will 
open  its  building  to  all  wholesome  interests  of  the 
people  on  the  land. 

A  means  of  strength  to  the  church. — A  favorably 
situated  church,  holding  undisputed  religious  guard- 
ianship in  its  region,  if  strong  enough  not  to  be  swept 
away  from  its  moral  and  religious  obligations  by 
assuming  aggressive  social  obligations  to  its  people, 
might  very  easily  find  that  it  has  a  new  lease  of  life 
and  power  in  this  added  responsibility. 

It  doubtless  would  be  well  to  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  just  as  the  home  has  served  a  great  function 
as  a  place  where  boys  and  girls  can  get  acquainted 
at  close  hand  under  working  conditions  and  intimate 
living  conditions  with  different  individual  types  of 
personalities,  and  thereby  come  to  incorporate  through 
imagination  and  sympathy  into  their  own  mental  habit 
a  completer  racial  life,  so  the  church  has  always  served 
the  social  function  of  bringing  families  of  different 
types  together  for  acquaintanceship  under  auspices 
sometimes  quite  spiritual,  at  other  times  quite  ordinary. 
Probably  for  at  least  a  generation  now,  this  function  in 
the  country,  where  acquaintance  with  human  life  is 
narrow,  somewhat  shallow,  and  somewhat  petty, 
should  be  emphasized.  In  fact  it  can  hardly  be  over- 
done. This  is  why  the  country  church  should  make 
special  occasions  of  as  wide  and  varied  a  character  as 
possible  to  bring  together  people  of  many  kinds  and 
occupations,  so  as  to  elevate  the  human  experience  of 
country  life. 


34  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

AFTER    ONE    YEAR    OF    SUCCESS    IN    A    COMMUNITY 
CHURCH    CENTER THE   YEAR   AHEAD 

Fred  Eastman 

Will  you  let  me  give  you  my  dream  for  the  year 
ahead  ?  I  see  a  church  working  with  the  same  purpose 
— binding  together  all  the  divergent  elements  of  our 
changing  population  in  Christian  fellowship.  I  see  a 
band  of  women  working  faithfully,  cheerfully  on, 
meeting  together,  planning  festivals,  picnics,  and  en- 
tertainments, providing  the  children  with  the  things 
that  make  glad  the  heart  of  childhood  and  the  grown- 
ups with  the  things  that  only  women  can  provide.  I 
see  a  Sunday-school  one  hundred  and  twenty  strong, 
studying  together,  under  the  guidance  of  conscientious 
and  earnest  teachers,  lessons  that  make  for  nobility 
and  strength  of  character.  I  see  a  crowd  of  men  and 
women  filling  this  church,  listening  to  lectures  that 
interest  and  inspire  and  arouse  debates,  and  to  music 
that  thrills  and  touches  the  most  solemn  chords  of  our 
being.  I  see  a  music  secretary  in  the  community, 
leading  and  directing  not  only  the  music  in  this  church 
but  in  the  glee  club  and  public  school  and  the  whole 
neighborhood.  I  see  a  choir  of  fifty  children  crowding 
that  little  balcony,  a  choir  the  freshness  and  sweetness 
of  whose  voices  will  set  these  walls  ringing  with  their 
glad  harmony.  We  will  have  musical  services  here — 
vesper  and  evening  songs  sung  by  the  children.  And 
I  see  the  response  which  these  services  will  call  forth 
from  the  hearts  of  this  community.     I  see  our  church 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       35 

filled  to  the  doors;  I  see  men  and  women  coming  here 
and  hear  them  saying  to  one  another  that  they  would 
rather  be  here  when  our  doors  are  open  than  anywhere 
else  in  the  community,  for  it  is  here  that  they  find  rest 
and  peace  and  inspiration.  They  shall  call  it  their 
home — their  House  of  Service. 

II.    The  Social  Center  Parish  Plan 
Fred  Eastman 

It  should  be  acknowledged  at  the  outset  that  the 
old  circuit  system  was  of  great  service  in  the  pioneer 
period  and  even  later  in  the  development  of  the  coun- 
try church  in  America.  It  should  also  be  granted  that 
the  circuit  system  is  still  a  practicable  method  in  many 
parts  of  the  rural  domain  even  to-day,  especially  in 
the  newer  and  sparsely  settled  regions.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  should  be  frankly  admitted  by  every  one 
who  knows  the  facts  that  the  changed  conditions  in  our 
rural  life  demand  a  change  in  our  methods  of  minister- 
ing to  the  people. 

The  emphasis  of  church  work  is  no  longer  merely 
upon  the  saving  of  individuals  but  also  upon  the  saving 
of  the  community;  and,  in  a  large  sense,  the  saving 
of  our  rural  civilization  from  becoming  pagan.  Fur- 
thermore, some  of  our  leading  thinkers  and  writers  on 
the  rural  situation  declare  that  it  will  soon  be  a  ques- 
tion of  whether  the  churches  in  the  rural  districts  will 
be  able  to  save  themselves  if  the  present  condition 
and  methods  of  church  life  continue.  Professor 
Carver  says :  *'  Unless  the  church  makes  itself  a  posi- 


Z6  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

tive  factor  in  the  building  up  of  the  rural  community 
and  rural  civilization,  it  will  have  to  get  out.  And 
in  the  main  the  church  must  rebuild  the  rural  com- 
munity through  its  own  members  by  making  them 
better  farmers,  better  citizens,  of  more  value  to  tlie 
community."  ^ 

To  save  individuals,  to  save  the  community,  and  to 
save  itself  the  country  church  must  adopt  an  adequate 
plan  to  meet  the  demands  of  modern  rural  community 
needs.  In  my  judgment  that  plan  best  suited  to  func- 
tion in  this  field  is  what  I  call  the  social  center  parish 
plan,  or  the  circular  system,  as  a  substitute  for  the 
old  circuit  system.  I  shall  discuss  this  subject  from 
the  point  of  view  (i)  of  the  plan,  (2)  of  its  value  as 
a  socializing  agency,  and  (3)  of  its  method  of  working. 

I.     THE   PLAN 

The  plan  involves  four  essential  things,  the  first  to 
be  a  thorough  social  survey.  The  survey  is  so  neces- 
sary and  fundamental  that  it  must  take  precedence  of 
the  other  three.  These  are  a  chart,  or  map  of  the 
entire  parish  or  community,  a  program  of  work  cover- 
ing the  details  of  the  chart,  and  a  staff  of  zvorkers  with 
voluntary  or  paid  assistants. 

(i)  The  social  survey  should  include  all  the  facts 
of  the  community:  (a)  those  that  may  be  termed  the 
assets,  or  life-giving  and  community-serving  resources; 
(b)  those  that  may  be  termed  liabilities;  that  is,  those 
that  are  life-destroying,  or  community-destroying 
factors.  It  should  be  a  geological,  biological,  demo- 
^ Rural  Church  Message,  p.  115. 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       37 

graphical,  and  sociological,  as  well  as  religious,  survey 
of  the  entire  community. 

(2)  The  chart,  or  map,  should  be  carefully  made 
upon  such  a  scale  that  every  member  of  the  parish  can 
understand  it.  It  should  be  put  in  usable  form  for 
distribution,  but  especially  should  it  be  placed  in  the 
pastor's  study,  or  in  the  assembly  hall,  where  the  facts 
of  the  community  as  well  as  of  individual  interest  and 
responsibility  can  be  pointed  out. 

It  should  not  only  mark  out  the  present  location  of 
farmhouses,  schools,  stores,  shops,  churches,  roads,  the 
best  soils  adapted  to  certain  crops,  etc.,  but  it  should 
include  also  the  desirable  location  of  these  buildings 
and  the  places  where  roads  ought  to  be  changed,  or 
reconstructed,  or  graded;  those  in  which  new  bridges 
should  be  built,  and  where  all  public  improvements 
should  be  made.  All  these  should  be  so  carefully  and 
graphically  presented  by  charts,  photographs,  and  let- 
tering that  it  would  be  a  means  of  public  education 
in  what  the  community  ought  to  be.  Striking  con- 
trasts of  what  is  and  what  ought  to  be  in  rural  life 
can  be  very  easily  and  cheaply  presented  by  paper  and 
ink,  or  by  photographs  and  posters.  And  these  are 
often  more  convincing  and  saving  than  some  sermons 
I  have  heard  in  rural  churches.^ 

(3)  A  program  of  work.  To  illustrate:  I  have  in 
my  mind  our  summer  camp  all  charted  and  mapped 
out,  and  a  program  of  work  for  the  next  year,  and 

*  For  a  good  community  map  see  "  The  Social  Anatomy  of  an 
Agricultural  Community,"  by  Prof.  C.  J.  Galpin,  Research  Bulle- 
tin No.  34,  Madison,  Wisconsin. 


38  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

perhaps  for  several  years.  I  know  all  the  dead  trees 
that  need  to  be  cut  next  summer,  the  stumps  and  stones 
I  want  to  remove  from  the  soil,  the  paths  I  am  going 
to  make  in  the  woods,  the  kind  of  treatment  the  soil 
of  the  garden  requires,  the  kind  of  boat-house  I  want 
to  build,  the  color  and  quality  of  the  paint  to  be  put 
on  the  buildings,  and  many  other  details.  So  the  rural 
leader  of  the  social  center  parish  should  have  outlined 
a  program  of  work  so  that  he  will  not  only  see  things 
done  in  the  community,  but  will  actually  get  the  young 
life  at  work,  in  order  that  it  may  function  in  the  essen- 
tials of  rural  leadership  and  community  service.  How 
are  you  going  to  keep  the  boys  in  the  church  and  train 
them  for  real  service  in  the  Kingdom?  That  should 
be  planned  out  before  there  is  a  tendency  for  the  group 
to  lapse  from  the  Sunday-school  and  to  leave  the  farm 
for  a  prodigal  experience. 

How  are  you  going  to  keep  that  rich  old  lady,  a 
little  eccentric  perhaps,  from  leaving  her  property  to 
the  endowment  of  a  dog  kennel  or  a  feline  sanitarium, 
and  persuade  her,  instead,  to  endow  some  scholarships 
for  the  country  boys  in  some  form  of  research  that 
will  help  the  community,  or  to  give  it  for  the  employ- 
ment of  a  young  man  or  a  young  woman  to  supervise 
the  play  life  of  the  community,  so  that  the  children 
will  not  fight  like  cats  and  dogs  at  their  play?  In 
every  detail  of  community  betterment  this  plan  makes 
possible  a  program  and  opens  up  the  way  to  per- 
formance. 

(4)  A  staff  of  workers.  This  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary, and  where  volimteers  cannot  be  had  it  will  re- 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       39 

quire  a  paid  staff,  such  as  the  County  Work  Depart- 
ment is  putting  into  some  of  the  communities  through 
its  statesmanhke  program  for  rural  community  better- 
ment. 

The  graduates  of  the  agricuhural  college  and  rural 
high  school  can  be  enlisted  for  this  kind  of  work. 
Instead  of  trying  to  get  every  young  man  to  express 
his  religious  experience  in  the  same  way,  as  in  my 
boyhood  days,  we  will  come  up  to  the  position  of  Paul 
in  recognizing  that  in  the  work  of  the  Kingdom  there 
are  varieties  of  gifts  but  the  same  spirit. 

So  I  would  have  a  specialist  on  soils,  one  on  plant 
pests  and  diseases,  one  on  stock-breeding  and  dairying, 
one  on  rural  home  planning,  one  on  hygiene  and  sani- 
tation, one  on  recreation  and  amusement  in  rural  com- 
munities, one  on  religious  education  and  adolescence, 
and  one  on  any  other  important  phase  of  the  com- 
munity need  brought  out  in  the  survey  and  charted  in 
the  program. 

2.     ITS   VALUE   AS    A   SOCIALIZING   AGENCY 

Such  an  institution  as  the  rural  church  organized  on 
the  social  center  parish  plan  has  two  essential  social 
aims  as  its  function  in  the  community :  ( i )  to  socialize 
the  community  in  consciousness,  (2)  to  socialize  the 
community  in  its  activity. 

(i)  Socialising  a  community  in  consciousness. — A 
community  is  socialized  in  consciousness  when  it 
comes  to  acknowledge  the  necessary  facts  in  social 
evolution  of  the  need  for  social  cleavage  in  com- 
munity-building, and  at  the  same  time  develops  that 


40  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

social  sympathy  which  keeps  these  class-conscious 
groups  in  sympathetic  cooperation  with  each  other  in 
carrying  on  the  work  necessary  to  the  fullest  life  of 
the  community.  In  other  words,  the  church  should 
so  broaden  the  people's  definition  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  earth  that  every  man  and  woman  who  is  doing 
a  necessary  part  of  the  world's  work  which  has  to  do 
with  the  health  and  happiness  of  the  community  as  a 
whole  may  be  conscious  of  doing  the  work  of  the 
Kingdom,  and  should,  therefore,  receive  a  just  share  of 
the  rewards  society  offers  of  social  esteem  and  of 
economic  values,  wages,  or  goods,  produced  by  labor 
of  whatever  sort.  With  such  a  chart  and  program  as  I 
have  described  above,  it  would  not  be  difficult  to 
develop  such  a  social  consciousness  in  the  minds  of  all 
the  people  of  the  parish. 

(2)  Socialimng  a  community  in  activity. — When  is 
a  community  socialized  in  activity?  When,  awakened 
to  the  consciousness  of  its  needs,  it  has  developed  ade- 
quate organization  of  its  population,  invented  efficient 
social  machinery,  and  trained  effective  social  en- 
gineers to  make  use  of  its  available  resources  for  all 
the  people  within  the  community  so  that  they  will  be 
in  possession  of  that  equality  of  opportunity  which 
means,  not  the  chance  to  secure  control  of  resources 
and  exploit  them  for  personal  or  for  corporate  ends, 
but  the  equality  of  opportunity  to  secure  for  each  a 
just  share  of  the  products  of  industry  through  dis- 
tribution according  to  the  measure  of  services  ren- 
dered. In  other  words,  a  community  is  socialized 
when  it  has  developed  a  social  medium  through  which 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  CCkvIMUNITY  CENTER       41 

there  is  a  reciprocal  correspondence  between  human 
needs  and  available  resources. 

To  me  this  is,  in  brief,  the  function  of  the  country 
church  as  a  socializing  agency  in  the  building  up  of 
the  community  life  that  will  correspond  to  the  New 
Testament  conception  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 

3.     METHOD   OF    WORKING   THE    PLAN 

No  plan,  however  scientific  and  workable,  will  work 
itself.  It  has  to  be  worked,  and  the  man  who  works  it 
must  have  the  essential  elements  of  social  leadership 
in  his  makeup. 

(i)  Such  a  plan  must  have  a  leader  who  loves 
work,  who  can  sense  the  needs  of  a  community,  who 
has  a  constructive  imagination,  and  who  has  will 
power,  or  a  persistent  purpose  to  succeed  when  he 
knows  he  is  right. 

(2)  It  requires  an  adequate  financial  plan  of  sup- 
port. A  fool  project  may  succeed  if  properly  financed, 
while  a  reasonable  plan  may  fail  if  not  properly 
financed.  In  most  communities  the  people  will  pay 
for  what  they  get  if  they  are  convinced  the  goods  are 
worth  the  money.  Sometimes  it  is  necessary  to  intro- 
duce the  goods  by  gift,  or  cut  the  price  to  one  half 
the  value.  So  in  some  rural  communities  it  will  be 
necessary  at  first  to  get  financial  support  for  the  cen- 
tral parish  plan  from  private  gifts  or  from  denomina- 
tional funds  outside  the  community  to  be  served. 
The  County  Work  Department  has  demonstrated  the 
feasibility  of  this  plan. 

(3)  Such  a  plan  on  a  large  scale  involves  a  more 


42  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

statesmanlike  policy  of  the  administration  of  home 
missions  and  church  extension  funds  by  some  of  the 
Protestant  denominations  than  has  been  evident  hith- 
erto. Instead  of  doling  out  drips  to  defunct  churches 
in  over-churched  communities,  or  for  petty  plans  for 
new  enterprises  of  little  importance,  if  these  boards 
would  set  aside  a  fund  for  establishing  a  few  central 
parishes  in  communities  that  would  act  as  imitation 
centers  for  other  communities,  it  seems  to  me  we 
would  make  greater  progress  in  home  missions  and 
church  extension  than  we  are  now  making  under  our 
present  policy,  which  we  have  inherited  from  the 
pioneer  past. 

(4)  Cooperation  by  overhead  organizations  of 
Home  Missions  Boards  for  the  country  church  should 
be  secured  as  a  definite  policy  for  rural  communities: 

(a)  by  dividing  the  rural  field  into  "  spheres  of  influ- 
ence," as  has  been  done  in  the  foreign  field,  and  re- 
cently in  Mexico  by  foreign  mission  boards.  This 
would  apply  especially  to  rural  fields  not  yet  churched. 

(b)  By  getting  common  consent  to  unite  where  the 
people  can  be  persuaded  to  follow  the  lead,  leaving  the 
responsibility  of  administration  to  the  denomination 
agreed  upon  by  the  people;  (c)  by  adopting  the  ''give 
and  take  "  principle  as  between  the  denominations  on 
reciprocal  terms,  for  different  communities,  where,  in 
the  one,  denomination  "  A  "  is  stronger  than  denom- 
ination "  B,"  and  in  the  other,  denomination  "  B  "  is 
stronger  than  denomination  ''A."  Here  we  have  an 
exchange  which  leaves  both  denominations  equally 
strong  as  a  whole,  and  locally  stronger  because  of  the 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       43 

elimination  of  competition  and  waste.  This  applies 
only  to  fields  where  there  is  competition  or  stagnation; 
where  this  cannot  be  secured  the  overhead  organiza- 
tions should  agree  (d)  to  adopt  the  law  of  adaptation 
to  environment,  or  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest, 
and  help  the  church  that  is  willing  to  organize  its 
work  on  a  community  basis;  that  is,  with  the  aim  to 
serve  the  whole  community  without  reference  to  de- 
nomination, and  then  let  the  others  die,  or  hustle  to  do 
likewise. 

III.    Examples  of  Community  Serving 
Churches 

It  will  not  be  possible  within  the  limits  of  this  report 
to  give  a  very  large  list  of  the  country  churches  already 
organized  on  the  Social  Center  Parish  Plan  and  doing 
successful  work  as  community  centers. 

Typical  examples  may  be  found  described  by  Dr. 
Warren  H.  Wilson  in  The  Church  at  the  Center,  chap- 
ter IV,  and  in  The  Church  of  the  Open  Country, 
chapter  VIII. 

I.  One  of  the  most  successful  is  the  Presbyterian 
Church  at  Hanover,  New  Jersey,  under  the  leadership 
of  the  pastor,  the  Rev.  R.  H.  M.  Augustine.  Here  we 
see  a  splendid  old  parish  with  a  central  church  building 
in  a  territory  given  largely  to  dairying,  truck  farming, 
and  fruit-growing,  and  surrounded  by  four  smaller 
centers  each  with  a  chapel  where  a  Sunday-school  is 
conducted  in  the  afternoons,  and  where  preaching  is 
held  in  the  afternoon  or  evening.  The  parish  has  a 
thriving  agricultural  league  and  a  cow-testing  associa- 


44  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

tion,  holds  community  meetings  in  the  church,  and  has 
developed  a  community  consciousness  that  is  being  ex- 
pressed in  many  forms  of  helpful  service  to  the  whole 
community  as  well  as  to  the  larger  interests  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  outside  the  community. 

2.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Leland,  Il- 
linois, the  Rev.  Willis  Ray  Wilson,  minister,  is  an- 
other illustration  of  a  church  that  is  organized  on  the 
community  center  basis.  The  work  of  this  church  is 
described  in  part  in  The  Church  at  the  Center,  by 
Warren  H.  Wilson,  pages  59-61.  Since  this  was 
written  the  pastor  has  done  even  more  successful  work 
in  this  interesting  parish. 

3.  The  Reformed  Church  of  Locust  Valley,  Long 
Island,  New  York,  under  the  leadership  of  the  Rev. 
Fred  Eastman.  The  work  of  this  parish  and  its  plan 
of  organization  is  described  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  ''  A 
Year's  Work."  The  problem  of  this  successful  leader 
was  to  make  the  **  oldtimers  "  and  the  "  newcomers  " 
see  that  the  community  and  its  institutions  are  theirs, 
that  they  belong  to  both,  and  that  each  has  a  share  in 
the  responsibility  for  the  social  and  moral  atmosphere 
of  the  neighborhood.  In  this  neighborhood  denomina- 
tional competition  was  given  up  by  sister  denomina- 
tions as  a  result  of  splendid  community  leadership  by 
the  pastor  of  this  church. 

4.  The  Presbyterian  Church,  Cazenovia,  New  York, 
the  Rev.  Silas  E.  Persons,  minister.  The  work  of  this 
community  center  church  is  described  in  part  by  the 
pastor  in  Solving  the  Country  Church  Problem^  by 
Bricker,  chapter  XIII. 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       45 

5.  The  Larger  Benzonia  Parish,  in  Benzie  County, 
Michigan,  the  Rev.  Harlow  S.  Mills,  minister.  The 
story  of  this  interesting  and  successful  community 
church  work  is  told  by  the  minister  himself  in  The 
Making  of  a  Country  Parish,  published  by  the  Mis- 
sionary Education  Movement,  New  York. 

6.  One  of  the  most  interesting  cases  of  the  building 
up  of  a  community  center  by  the  work  of  a  minister 
with  vision  in  a  very  discouraging  situation  on  an  old 
broken-down  circuit  is  that  of  the  Rev.  John  S.  Bur- 
ton, Suffem,  New  York  (Rural  Delivery).  A  story 
of  this  parish  work  is  told  by  Fred  Eastman  in  the 
Survey  for  May  23,  19 14.  The  closing  paragraph 
contains  this  interesting  characterization  of  the  force 
of  this  man  as  a  social  engineer  in  the  community. 
"  This  little  Methodist  preacher  is  on  no  committee; 
he  is  not  chairman,  or  secretary,  or  treasurer.  He  is 
just  a  sort  of  two-legged  prayer-meeting,  going  about 
the  community  filling  everybody  full  of  the  Holy 
Spirit." 

7.  Prof.  Galpin  in  Bulletin  234  (January,  1914), 
of  the  Agricultural  Experiment  Station  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Wisconsin  gives  the  description  of  St. 
Peter's  Roman  Catholic  Church,  Ashton,  Dane  County, 
Wisconsin,  as  a  Rural  Church  Center.  The  parochial 
school  building  is  used  as  a  community  center.  Series 
of  lectures  are  given  by  the  priest  to  the  young  men 
of  the  farms  on  such  topics  as  "  Scientific  Agricul- 
ture," ''  Taking  the  Short  Course  at  the  College  of 
Agriculture,"  ''  Beautifying  the  Home  and  Farm," 
"  Ornamental  Shrubs  and  Flowering  Plants." 


46  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

This  church  maintains  a  parish  library  on  country 
life,  fairly  up-to-date  books  on  scientific  agriculture, 
country  life  bulletins  from  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, at  Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  bulletins 
from  the  State  College  of  Agriculture,  magazines,  and 
the  like. 

He  also  describes  in  this  bulletin  the  work  of  other 
denominations,  such  as  the  Pigeon  Creek  Norwegian 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  Hall,  Trempealem 
County,  Wisconsin;  Fairfield  Baptist  Church,  Hall, 
Sauk  County,  Wisconsin,  and  several  others. 

8.  The  pamphlet,  "  Country  Churches  of  Distinc- 
tion," published  by  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  Home 
Missions,  Country  Church  Work,  gives  brief  sketches 
of  fifty  churches  in  Ohio,  a  large  number  of  which  are 
community-serving  churches. 

9.  Many  other  examples  could  be  given,  but  these 
are  sufficient  to  encourage  those  who  are  seeking  to 
enlarge  the  scope  of  the  country  churches  they  are 
serving  to  include  the  whole  community. 

IV.    Recommendations 

I.  That  administrative  Boards  of  Home  Missions 
having  to  do  with  rural  fields  make  a  more  scientific 
study  of  the  rural  domain  with  reference  to  its  actual 
needs,  available  resources,  and  strategic  centers  where 
permanent  church  enterprises  of  the  community  center 
type  may  be  established.  This  could  be  done  coop- 
eratively in  a  comparatively  brief  period  by  the  leading 
denominational  boards  without  overlapping  and  at  no 
great  expense,  if  the  entire  rural  domain  were  divided 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       47 

into  regions  and  surveyed  by  men  and  women  of 
ability  according  to  a  definite  plan. 

2.  That  the  Social  Center  Parish  Plan  be  adopted  as 
the  ideal  toward  which  all  denominations  should  work. 
This  will  give  a  system  with  a  central  plant  and  staff  of 
workers  organized  on  the  basis  of  service  to  the  entire 
community  or  countryside,  and  so  insuring  community 
consciousness  and  promoting  social  solidarity. 

3.  That  Home  Mission  Boards  adopt  the  plan  of 
the  foreign  boards  in  the  selection  and  training  of 
volunteers  for  the  field,  in  order  that  we  may  make 
the  open  country  as  impelling  as  the  foreign  field  from 
the  new  point  of  life  investment,  so  that  we  may  get 
the  best  type  of  leadership  to  enlist  for  the  country 
church  field. 

4.  That  definite  courses  of  study  be  given  in  the 
theological  schools  and  in  colleges  and  universities 
looking  toward  life-work  in  this  field;  and  that  courses 
in  Rural  Bible  Study,  as  well  as  courses  on  other  forms 
of  mission  work,  be  given  by  the  Christian  Associa- 
tions in  these  institutions. 

5.  That  fellowships  be  established  for  key-men  in 
our  theological  seminaries  who  could,  after  graduation, 
spend  a  year  or  two  on  the  study  of  some  rural  church 
field  with  the  view  of  giving  their  lives  to  this  kind  of 
work;  and  that  scholarships  be  given  to  some  country 
ministers  to  attend  a  summer  school  on  Methods  in 
Rural  Leadership  and  the  Country  Church,  so  that  on 
their  return  they  may  become  community  leaders  for 
the  central  parish  or  rural  region. 

6.  That  administrative  overhead  organizations  hav- 


48  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

ing  to  do  with  the  expenditure  of  Home  Mission 
Funds  encourage  the  formation  of  a  parish  budget  for 
the  community  center  which  would  locaHze  responsi- 
bihty  and  programs  and  expenditure,  and  lead  ulti- 
mately to  self-support.  And  that  no  funds  be  appro- 
priated to  any  church  which  has  not  made  a  survey  of 
its  field,  organized  its  work  on  a  community  basis,  and 
secured  a  staff  of  workers  (voluntary  or  paid),  and 
chosen  a  leader  capable  of  organizing  the  work  of  the 
whole  parish;  unless  it  be  a  case  of  charity,  in  which 
case  the  appropriation  should  come  from  a  separate 
fund  for  that  purpose. 

If  the  overhead  organizations  in  Rural  Church 
Work  will  arrange  themselves  upon  the  basis  of  these 
proposals,  we  believe  it  will  not  be  long  before  this 
vast  resource  field  for  the  nation's  needs  will  be  en- 
tirely reclaimed  as  a  lost  home  field,  and  again  will 
be  furnishing,  as  in  the  past,  the  largest  percentage  of 
the  economic,  political,  moral,  educational,  and  relig- 
ious leadership  of  our  new  civilization,  which,  we 
trust,  will  be  the  realization  of  our  hopes — the  kingdom 
of  God  come. 

V.    Selected  Bibliography 

Rural  Social  Centers  in  Wisconsin,  Bulletin  234,  by 
C.  J.  Galpin,  Madison,  Wisconsin. 

The  Social  Anatomy  of  an  Agricultural  Community, 
Research  Bulletin  34,  May,  19 15,  by  C.  J.  Galpin, 
Madison,  Wisconsin. 

The  Story  of  John  Frederick  Oberlin,  by  A.  F. 
Beard,  Pilgrim  Press. 


THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER       49 

Making  of  a  Country  Parish,  by  Harlan  S.  Mills, 
Missionary  Education  Movement. 

The  Church  at  the  Center,  by  Warren  H.  Wilson, 
Missionary  Education  Movement. 

Solving  the  Country  Church  Problem,  by  Garland 
A.  Bricker,  Methodist  Book  Concern. 

The  Rural  Church  Movement,  by  Edwin  L.  Earp, 
Methodist  Book  Concern. 

The  Church  of  the  Open  Country,  by  Warren  H. 
Wilson,  Missionary  Education  Movement. 

Cooperation  in  Cooper sburg,  by  Edmund  de  S. 
Brunner,  Missionary  Education  Movement. 

Country  Church  and  Community  Cooperation,  by 
Henry  Israel,  Association  Press. 

The  Country  Church  and  the  Rural  Problem,  by 
Kenyon  L.  Butterfield,  University  of  Chicago  Press. 

The  Country  Church,  by  Gifford  Pinchot  and 
Charles  Otis  Gill,  The  Macmillan  Co. 

Rural  Church  Message  (Men  and  Religion  Move- 
ment), The  Association  Press. 

The  Challenge  of  the  Country,  by  G.  Walter  Fiske, 
Association  Press. 

The  Day  of  the  Country  Church,  by  J.  O.  Ashen- 
hurst,  Funk  and  Wagnalls  Co. 

A  Natural  Community  Center,  article  by  R.  C. 
Keagy,  in  Successful  Farming,  November,  19 15. 


50  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

THE  OVERCHURCHING  OF  RURAL 
COMMUNITIES 

A.  W.  Taylor 

The  rational  approach  to  the  rural  church  problem 
is  through  a  thoroughgoing  survey  of  the  rural  church 
situation  and  an  analysis  of  the  field  and  the  forces  at 
work.  Sufficient  surveys  have  thus  far  been  made  to 
indicate  certain  inescapable  facts  regarding  the  dupli- 
cation of  church  efforts  in  the  average  rural  com- 
munity. Those  who  survey  the  whole  field  are  agreed 
regarding  the  necessity  of  making  the  rural  church  a 
community  church,  and  they  are  also  agreed  that  there 
are  certain  fundamental  weaknesses  in  the  present  in- 
stitutional situation. 

No  city  church  would  expect  to  grow  and  prosper 
without  a  settled  pastor.  Few  country  churches  are 
found  to  possess  such  a  pastor,  although  the  farmer 
Christian  is  in  no  wise  different  from  the  city  Chris- 
tian in  his  spiritual  needs,  nor  are  his  churches  in  any 
wise  different  in  their  organic  needs  from  those  of  the 
city;  yet  the  rural  church  is  too  small  to  support  a 
settled  pastor.  Again,  it  has  been  found  that  the 
prosperity  of  the  rural  church  is  in  direct  ratio  to  the 
number  of  its  services  and  the  size  of  its  membership; 
but  the  average  rural  church,  whose  membership  runs 
from  sixty  to  eighty  souls,  has  preaching  only  once  a 
month  by  a  preacher  who  resides  outside  the  com- 
munity, and  who  gives  it  little  if  any  pastoral  atten- 
tion.    So  small  a  church  is  unable  to  support  a  resi- 


OVERCHURCHING  OF  RURAL  COMMUNITIES       51 

dent  pastor  or  even  to  support  a  man  who  will  give 
some  time  to  pastoral  work;  thus  without  a  shepherd 
or  an  organizer  the  life  of  such  churches  is  limited  to 
that  of  worship  and  to  whatever  organization  may  be 
effected  by  unled  local  workers.  The  neighboring  town 
church  has  four  to  five  times  the  membership  and  is 
thus  able  to  support  a  resident  pastor,  to  conduct 
services  every  Sunday,  to  have  oversight,  to  effect  per- 
manent organizations,  to  rise  to  leadership,  to  train 
the  workers,  and  to  secure  a  shepherding  of  the  flock. 
And  through  them  all  it  has  a  chance  to  succeed.  Then 
the  impress! veness  of  its  audiences,  the  formidable- 
ness  and  energy  of  its  organization,  the  constant  at- 
tention of  its  pastor,  and  the  very  success  with  which 
its  activities  are  carried  on  begets  greater  success. 
Because  it  does  things  it  is  able  to  enlist  both  men 
and  money.  Activity  begets  greater  activity  and  en- 
lists both  patronage  and  financial  support.  In  the 
country  small  congregations  beget  small  congrega- 
tions, listless  activities  beget  listlessness;  occasional 
services  are  unable  to  inspire  activity;  little  to  pay  for 
makes  small  challenge  to  generosity. 

In  a  church  survey  made  of  Boone  County,  Mis- 
souri, the  home  of  the  state  university,  sixty-seven 
rural  churches  were  found,  or  one  to  every  forty-six 
rural  families  in  the  county.  Their  average  member- 
ship is  about  eighty.  Only  one  of  them  had  a  resident 
pastor,  and  he  preached  for  three  other  churches  at 
considerable  distances.  On  the  first  of  January,  19 15, 
not  one  of  them  afforded  preaching  more  than  once 
each  month  and  many  of  them  not  so  often.     Almost 


52  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

one  half  of  them  had  no  Sunday-schools,  and  of  those 
who  did  only  a  few  kept  their  schools  alive  during  the 
winter  months.  Few  of  them  had  any  sort  of  mis- 
sionary or  young  people's  organizations.  The  average 
pastor's  salary  was  about  $200,  and  the  budget  for  the 
entire  work  of  the  church  was  less  than  $250.  There 
is  not  a  single  one  of  these  churches  that  does  not 
have  from  two  to  seven  others  within  four  miles  of  its 
church  site.  What  is  true  of  this  county  is  true  of 
multitudinous  others.  The  overchurching  may  not  be 
so  bad  in  many  others,  but  it  is  of  like  type  in  prac- 
tically all  other  farming  counties,  and  thus  the  situa- 
tion may  be  said  to  be  fairly  characteristic. 

Now  the  most  primary  analysis  of  this  situation  in 
the  light  of  the  necessities  of  church  efficiency  is  con- 
vincing. There  are  simply  too  many  churches  for  any 
of  them  to  be  efficient.  They  cannot  afford  resident 
pastors  because  no  one  of  them  can  support  a  resident 
pastor,  and  no  three  or  four  of  them  in  the  sam.e  com- 
munity can  tmite  to  support  one  because  they  belong 
to  different  denominations.  They  cannot  support  a 
live  Sunday-school  because  there  are  not  enough  chil- 
dren to  make  a  live  school  in  each  and  every  one  of 
them,  and  inevitably  the  attempt  of  one  to  support  a 
good  school  begets  a  competitive  attempt  in  the  other 
nearest  by,  and  the  field  is  divided,  the  cleavage  run- 
ning just  as  deep  as  the  struggles  to  activity  drive  it. 
They  are  too  much  concerned  about  the  competitive 
local  conditions  in  keeping  the  various  churches  alive 
to  have  much  interest  in  missionary  work,  feeling  that 
the  smallness  of  their  membership  puts  upon  them  too 


OVERCHURCHING  OF  RURAL  COMMUNITIES       53 

great  a  burden  for  local  support.  If  one  of  them  un- 
dertakes a  community  program,  the  community  is  im- 
mediately divided  through  their  sectarian  loyalties,  and 
religion,  instead  of  being  the  dominant  force  for  unity 
in  the  community,  becomes  ofttimes  the  greatest  force 
making  for  disunity. 

This  overchurched  condition  is  a  survival  from  the 
pioneer  days.  In  earlier  days  the  sectarian  shibboleth 
rallied  people.  When  the  country  was  new,  the  pioneer 
preacher  came  to  establish  churches  of  his  peculiar 
creedal  persuasion.  The  question  was  not.  Has  this 
new  community  a  church  that  preaches  Christ?  but 
Has  it  a  church  of  our  persuasion  preaching  Christ? 
Thus  the  various  small  congregations  were  founded 
side  by  side.  In  many  cases  the  schools  of  these  com- 
munities are  taking  on  the  modern  spirit.  Agriculture 
is  catching  the  teaching  of  science.  The  business  life 
of  the  farm  is  being  organized  upon  an  efficiency  basis. 
All  the  other  pioneer  elements  of  community  life  are 
giving  way  to  the  better  and  more  modem  regime,  but 
the  church  remains  as  a  survival  of  the  pioneer  time. 
It  has  the  same  insularity  and  lack  of  missionary  spirit 
and  retains  the  old  method  of  living  upon  preaching 
alone.  There  is  danger  lest  the  growing  community 
spirit  pass  the  church  by.  Many  workers  in  the  agri- 
cultural and  rural  life  field  have  already  come  to  re- 
gard the  country  church  as  a  negligible  factor  in  their 
efforts  to  communize  rural  life  and  found  it  upon  a 
cooperative  basis.  The  old  sectarian  shibboleths  are 
failing  to  rally  the  younger  generation,  and  there  is 
danger  lest  in  the  slow  decadence  of  the  rural  congre- 


54  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

gation  religion  itself  shall  suffer.  Christianity  would 
thrive  much  better  in  the  rural  community  with  one 
fourth  the  present  number  of  churches.  The  ques- 
tion as  to  which  should  die  will  not  be  easily  settled. 
None  will  be  willing  to  become  a  vicarious  sacrifice 
to  the  larger  religious  life  of  the  community,  and  it  is 
possible  that  in  many  places  they  will  all  die  together 
through  each  struggling  to  retain  its  life;  thus  in  the 
struggle  of  churches  that  have  ceased  to  function  there 
is  grave  danger  to  the  religious  and  moral  life  of  the 
community. 

One  way  out  is  suggested  by  those  who  have  faith 
that  a  movement  can  be  inaugurated  at  the  top  and 
the  various  denominations  brought  to  agree  on  a  reci- 
procity of  interest  through  an  exchange  of  membership 
in  various  fields;  that  is,  by  the  willingness  of  one 
communion  to  withdraw  from  one  field  and  have  its 
communicants  unite  with  a  neighboring  church,  while 
the  other  communion  makes  a  like  transfer  in  another 
field.  There  are  many  difficulties  in  the  way  of  this 
solution:  the  more  dogmatically  inclined  denomina- 
tions will  refuse  to  enter  such  a  reciprocal  arrange- 
ment; the  more  democratic  and  congregationally 
organized  communions  have  no  machinery  able  to 
accomplish  it,  and  any  attempt  by  conventions  or 
supervisory  agencies  tO'  effect  it  will  be  met  with 
vigorous  protest  from  the  rank  and  file;  and  in  most 
localities  there  will  be  a  considerable  minority  that  will 
refuse  to  accept  such  an  arrangement  unless  it  is  made 
by  the  local  congregations  on  their  own  initiative. 
The  best  a  movement  at  the  top  can  expect  to  do  is  to 


OVERCHURCHING  OF  RURAL  COMMUNITIES       55 

agitate  and  educate  and  to  effect  an  occasional  exem- 
plary union. 

A  thoroughgoing  appreciation  of  the  difficulties  af- 
forded by  sectarian  loyalty,  independent  polity,  tradi- 
tion, and  indifference  to  the  gravity  of  the  situation 
leads  one  to  suspect  that  there  will  have  to  be  a  sort 
of  a  "  survival  of  the  fit "  selective  process.  The 
local  church  that  arises  to  the  demands  of  the  situation 
by  adopting  a  thoroughgoing  community  program  will 
gradually  draw  to  its  support  all  those  elements  in  the 
community  life  that  cannot  be  interested  in  the  older 
doctrinal  and  individualistic  program  and  will  also 
win  many  from  their  conventional  loyalties  to  the 
more  virile  life  of  a  socialized  church.  The  new 
interest  is  intensely  human  and  the  old  sectarian  shib- 
boleths will  loose  their  clutch;  the  new  program  is 
broad  and  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and 
while  it  sacrifices  nothing  true  in  the  old,  it  revivifies 
it  with  vision  and  a  good-neighborliness  that  will 
bring  the  church  into  the  spirit  of  the  times  in  which 
we  live.  The  process  will  be  a  slow  one,  no  doubt, 
for  institutions  change  slowly;  but  the  institutions 
of  religion  must  readapt  themselves  to  the  larger  spirit 
and  demands  of  the  time  or  the  old  type  of  church 
will  have  to  give  way  to  a  new  and  more  plastic  type 
that  can  better  show  forth  the  fraternity  and  broth- 
erly love  of  Christianity  and  bring  in  the  kingdom  of 
God. 


56  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

THE  SOCIAL  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  THE 
CHURCH  TO  THE  COMMUNITY 

6^.  K.  Mosiman 

The  average  community  in  the  Middle  States  is 
made  up  of  various  groups  of  people  bound  together 
more  or  less  strongly  by  ties  of  common  interest.  The 
stability  of  any  particular  group  depends  upon  the 
strength  of  the  interest  that  forms  the  bond  of  union. 
Time  usually  severs  all  bonds.  Community  groups  ac- 
cordingly are  subject  to  change;  they  disintegrate  or 
coalesce  as  interest  directs.  The  interests  that  per- 
vade and  dominate  any  particular  group  are  of  a  social 
rather  than  of  an  economic  nature.  It  is  always 
difficult  to  get  farmers  to  cooperate  for  mutual 
advantage  in  buying  or  selling,  or  for  any  economic 
advantage  or  improvement.  It  is  easy,  on  the  other 
hand,  for  people  to  unite  for  social  advantage, 
provided  always  that  the  interests  of  the  different 
individuals  and  groups  are  common. 

It  is  not  easy  to  resolve  a  larger  community  into  its 
group  elements.  What  may  be  true  of  one  com- 
munity may  not  at  all  hold  true  of  another.  Few 
communities,  however,  are  a  unit  in  social  interests. 
The  community  of  which  I  wish  to  speak  on  this  oc- 
casion is  one  that  has  been  known  to  me  for  many 
years  from  observation.  I  do  not  claim  that  it  is  a 
typical  community.  I  do  claim,  however,  that  it  does 
show  the  tendency  of  communities  to  divide  along  the 
line  of  group  interests.    In  this  community  that  I  have 


SOCIAL  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  CHURCH  57 

known  for  forty  years  the  following  groups  may  be 
clearly  traced. 

Strongly  marked  are  the  nationalistic  groups. 
Originally  this  community  was  settled  by  the  pioneers 
who  came  in  from  the  eastern  states.  Later,  families 
from  foreign  lands  came  in,  notably  Germans.  The 
original  settlers  built  their  churches,  and  when  the 
Germans  came  in  they  had  little  in  common  with  the 
old  settlers.  A  new  set  of  churches  of  various  creeds 
took  the  place  of  the  older  churches.  In  some  cases, 
too,  the  church  that  was  displaced  was  of  the  same 
faith  as  the  one  that  took  its  place.  National  inter- 
ests and  feelings  were  clearly  the  forces  that  held  the 
groups  together.  We  see  here  that  the  social  instinct 
or  feeling  is  stronger  even  than  the  religious.  It  is 
also  stronger  than  the  economic  interests,  for  all  the 
men  of  the  community,  regardless  of  nationality,  met 
for  transaction  of  business. 

We  notice  in  the  next  place  the  provincial  group. 
Families  moved  into  the  community  from  a  neighbor- 
ing state,  or  from  other  communities  in  the  same 
state.  These  families  are  not  always  received  at  once 
into  the  existing  social  order.  They  form  the  nucleus 
of  a  group,  attracting  to  themselves  other  strangers 
that  may  come  into  the  community. 

We  must  note,  of  course,  the  religious  groups  or 
the  denominational  groups  which  are  found  in  almost 
every  larger  community.  Sectarian  differences  are  not 
so  strongly  marked  to-day  as  in  former  years.  In 
some  sections,  however,  they  are  still  strong  enough 
to  make  dividing  lines  for  social  meetings  and  gather- 


58  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

ings.  Even  to-day  it  is  difficult  for  an  outsider  or 
a  newcomer  to  break  into  the  social  group  of  an  ex- 
clusive church.  People  are  invited  to  attend  church 
services  and  even  prayer-meetings  much  more  readily 
than  they  are  invited  to  participate  in  the  social  activi- 
ties of  the  church  group. 

Almost  every  community  has  its  non-religious 
group  or  groups.  People  who  are  out  of  the  church 
are  frequently  found  associating  together.  Their  in- 
difference or  opposition  to  religion  forms  the  bond 
which  binds  this  group  together.  They,  too,  find 
ways  and  means  of  associating  with  one  another  and 
they  are  drawn  together,  not  so  much  on  account  of 
their  indifference  to  religion,  as  from  the  need  of 
meeting  with  some  one  on  a  social  basis. 

Another  group  that  may  be  mentioned  and  one  that 
has  been  growing  in  recent  years  is  the  class  group 
due  to  a  division  of  labor.  The  various  surveys  that 
have  been  made  in  Ohio  show  that  a  small  per  cent,  of 
the  hired  men  go  to  church  on  Sunday.  They  do, 
however,  meet  on  Sunday  with  other  hired  men  of 
the  community.  Recently  I  had  the  experience  of 
hearing  a  hired  man  in  a  certain  family  calling  up  on 
a  Sunday  morning  over  the  telephone  three  or  four  of 
his  associates  asking  them  to  meet  him  in  a  neighbor- 
ing town,  to  spend  the  Sunday.  When  I  asked  him 
why  he  did  not  attend  services  with  the  family,  he 
replied  that  there  was  no  one  at  that  church  that  he 
was  acquainted  with.  We  see  here,  again,  that  the 
social  interests  draw  men  together.  There  is  also  a 
growing  disinclination  on  the  part  of  landowners  to 


SOCIAL  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  CHURCH  59 

meet  renters  on  an  equal  social  basis.  This  accounts 
for  the  fact,  also  brought  out  in  the  survey  of  Ohio, 
that,  as  compared  with  those  who  own  their  farms, 
a  small  proportion  of  renters  are  interested  in  the 
country  church. 

Other  groups  might  no  doubt  be  found  in  the  same 
community  where  these  various  groups  mentioned  have 
held  sway  at  one  time  or  another.  But  in  all  the 
groups  we  find  the  same  tendency  to  meet  on  a  social 
rather  than  on  an  economic  basis.  People  may  unite 
in  business  and  in  the  every-day  affairs  of  life  and 
yet  be  very  far  apart  in  their  sympathies,  or  in  what 
they  think  constitutes  their  social  interests. 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  also  that  a  group  usually  has 
a  meeting-place,  or  some  rallying  point.  The  church 
does  not  afford  the  only  meeting-place.  That  the 
church  services  alone  do  not  supply  every  human  need 
is  clearly  seen  from  the  tendency  to  meet  after  church 
for  a  few  minutes  of  visiting  that  can  be  seen  in  any 
typical  country  church.  In  this  half  hour  of  visiting 
after  a  church  service  different  social  groups  may 
appear.  The  groups,  however,  that  are  not  religious 
find  other  meeting-places.  I  know  of  a  certain  group 
who  went  to  town  on  Saturday  afternoon  for  the  pur- 
pose of  meeting  their  friends  on  the  street  as  regu- 
larly as  many  people  go  to  church.  The  saloon,  the 
lodge  or  club,  or  even  a  hay-loft,  may  be  the  meeting- 
place  to  keep  alive  group  interests. 

There  may  be  communities  where  these  group  in- 
terests are  of  minor  importance.  In  the  community 
that  I  have  in  mind,  however,  the  church  was  ground 


6o  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

to  powder  between  the  upper  and  nether  millstones  of 
conflicting  group  interests. 

Some  Churches  That  Have  Failed 

When  I  speak  of  the  church  as  having  failed  in  this 
community,  I  am  not  thinking  of  the  church  of  one 
denomination.  In  the  community  where  I  spent  the 
early  years  of  my  life  one  may  count  at  least  ten 
empty  country  churches  from  the  hilltop  where  my 
home  was  situated.  These  churches  were  of  various 
denominations:  Reformed,  United  Brethren,  Baptist, 
Presbyterian,  Mennonite,  and  others.  On  the  whole 
one  cannot  say  that  they  failed  because  the  community 
was  overchurched.  Nor  can  one  say  that  the  ministers 
were  not  faithful,  nor  that  the  gospel  was  not 
preached.  It  was  neither  that  the  churches  were  too 
liberal  nor  too  orthodox.  Some  of  these  things  may 
have  entered  as  contributive  causes. 

We  are  living  in  a  time  of  surveys.  We  make  a 
survey  to  ascertain  the  present  condition  of  a  com- 
munity, or  to  find  out  the  standing  of  a  country 
church.  If  we  should  make  a  survey  backward,  we 
might  learn  something  about  the  causes  of  the  failure 
of  these  churches.  As  I  look  back  with  a  riper  experi- 
ence I  can  now  see  that  conflicting  group  interests 
were  the  chief  cause  of  decline  in  every  one  of  the 
churches.  In  each  case  there  was  a  lack  of  connection 
between  the  old  interests  of  the  community  or  group 
and  the  new  interests  that  came  in.  These  interests 
were  not  always  antagonistic,  but  they  were  unable 
to  break  through  the  social  walls  erected.     In  some 


SOCIAL  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  CHURCH  6i 

cases,  of  course,  new  churches  took  the  place  of  the 
old,  while  in  other  cases  a  country  church  was  absorbed 
by  a  town  church.  In  each  case,  however,  there  was  a 
moral  loss  to  the  community  when  a  church  failed. 
To  some  extent,  of  course,  sectarianism  contributed  to 
the  decline  of  certain  churches.  But  with  the  change 
and  readjustment  that  was  constantly  going  on  in  this 
community  there  was  always  a  large  portion  of  the 
people  that  were  outside  of  the  church.  In  every  case 
where  one  church  was  absorbed  by  another,  or  where 
new  people  came  into  the  community  and  brought  with 
them  their  own  church,  a  portion  of  the  membership 
of  the  old  church  lost  all  their  church  relationship 
and  interest.  This  is  true  because  they  placed  group 
interests  above  community  interests  and  religious  in- 
terests. But  as  stated  before,  group  interests  are  of  a 
social  nature  rather  than  of  an  economic  or  religious 
nature. 

Some  Successful  Country  Churches 

The  successful  country  church  is  one  where  the 
community  interests  and  the  religious  interests  are 
larger  than  the  group  interests.  On  a  recent  Sunday 
I  attended  a  service  at  a  country  church  that  repre- 
sented to  me,  to  some  extent  at  least,  what  a  country 
church  ought  to  be.  People  came  in  from  every  direc- 
tion,— fathers,  mothers,  grandparents,  and  children; 
the  whole  family,  in  fact,  came  to  church.  The  pastor 
informed  me  that  so  far  as  he  knew  there  was  not  a 
family  within  a  radius  of  five  miles  of  the  church  that 
was  not  Christian  and  that  did  not  attend  the  Sunday- 


62  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

school  or  church.  The  whole  atmosphere  of  the 
church  spoke  of  prosperity  and  contentment.  The 
church  was  in  one  sense  a  social  center,  ministering  to 
the  social  needs  of  the  community  as  well  as  to  the 
spiritual,  though  I  doubt  if  many  of  the  members  had 
ever  paid  much  attention  to  what  we  call  social 
service  or  community  interests. 

In  central  Illinois  there  are  large  communities  of 
Mennonites  and  Amish.  Permit  me  to  give  an  illus- 
tration of  one  of  the  Amish  churches  and  its  standing 
in  the  community.  In  fact  the  church  and  the  com- 
munity are  identical.  These  people  make  their  church 
life  a  thing  of  vital  importance.  They  have  a  very 
large  church  building,  costing  perhaps  $40,000.  In 
the  church  they  have  a  very  large  basement  that  is 
made  use  of  every  Sunday.  On  a  Sunday  morning 
the  families  of  the  surrounding  community  may  be 
seen  going  to  church.  As  a  rule,  all  attend.  During 
the  service  some  of  the  sisters  are  delegated  to  prepare 
coffee  in  the  basement  of  the  church.  At  the  noon 
hour  all  partake  of  a  common  meal.  After  the  meal 
another  service  is  held  in  the  afternoon.  The  church 
is  serving  the  community,  in  that  it  supplies  an  oppor- 
tunity to  meet  on  a  social  basis.  It  is,  however,  an 
exclusive  church.  It  may  be  called  a  Brotherhood 
that  admits  to  its  membership  only  those  who  accept 
wholly  and  altogether  its  principles.  This  church  has 
solved  the  community  problem  by  buying  out  all  other 
landowners  of  the  community.  Incidentally  they  have 
advanced  the  price  of  land  in  central  Illinois  above  that 
of  any  other  community.    They  have  solved  the  com- 


SOCIAL  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  CHURCH  63 

munity  problem  in  their  own  way.  Their  exclusive- 
ness,  however,  makes  it  probable  that  their  difficulties 
will  come  from  within.  Nevertheless,  these  churches 
do  point  out  the  way  in  which  an  ideal  country  church 
might  be  conducted. 

I  should  like  to  mention  one  more  church  that  has  a 
membership  of  nearly  a  thousand,  and  a  Sunday- 
school  of  more  than  a  thousand,  that  is  solving  the 
country  church  problem.  This  church  is  in  a  town  and 
has  many  members  living  in  the  town.  A  new  church 
has  been  built  that  seats  at  least  two  thousand  people. 
Here,  too,  religious  interests  are  made  the  dominating 
force.  This  is  possible  and  in  a  sense  easy,  because 
the  people  are  of  one  nationality,  and  have  similar 
interests  and  tastes,  and  social  inclinations  for  both 
town  and  country.  One  can  only  hope  that  such  a 
church  will  continue  to  hold  fast  to  that  which  it  has. 
For  it  the  ordinary  country  church  problem  does  not 
exist.  The  social  needs  of  the  community  are  being 
met  without  special  effort  at  organization  for  the 
purpose. 

We  might  examine  every  successful  country  church, 
and  we  should  clearly  find  that  in  each  case  the  com- 
munity is  more  or  less  united,  not  only  in  religious 
views,  but  in  their  social  ideas  and  interests  as  well. 
The  aim,  then,  of  a  country  church  should  be  not 
only  to  work  for  unity  in  belief  but  tb  work  to  bring 
unity  out  of  the  social  chaos  that  is  so  often  found 
in  a  community. 

The  question  arises  of  course  as  to  how  this  can  be 
done.     I  can  only  point  out  that  the  church  should 


64  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

present  a  program  large  enough  to  interest  all  the 
people  in  the  whole  community.  Is  this  possible?  I 
think  it  is.  The  last  words  of  Jesus  to  his  disciples 
were :  "Go  ye,  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all 
nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  teaching  them 
to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded 
you;  and  lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end 
of  the  world."  In  these  words  we  are  told  to  teach 
all  things  that  Jesus  has  commanded  us.  Surely  in 
the  teaching  of  Jesus  there  is  a  program  large  enough 
to  meet  every  condition,  even  the  social  condition 
that  may  exist  in  any  community.  I  sometimes  think 
that  we  have  touched  only  the  fringes  of  the  teachings 
of  Jesus. 

If  the  church  wishes  to  have  a  program  large 
enough  to  unify  the  conflicting  social  interests  in  any 
community,  it  must  present  large  ideas.  The  revival 
of  the  spelling-bee,  which  has  been  tried  in  Ohio,  will 
not  solve  the  problem.  Good  as  agencies  and  organ- 
izations of  such  nature  may  be  to  draw  people  to- 
gether in  a  social  way,  they  usually  are  not  large 
enough.  Especially  is  this  true  of  institutions  that 
have  perished  because  they  ceased  to  serve  their  com- 
munities. 

May  I  just  point  out  some  of  the  teaching  which 
I  think  should  be  emphasized  in  our  churches  and 
which  is  large  enough  to  solve  some  of  the  problems  ? 

First  of  these  let  me  mention  the  brotherhood  of 
man.  The  church  has  forgotten  to  place  sufficient 
emphasis  on  the  teaching  of  Jesus  on  the  brotherhood 


SOCIAL  RESPONSIBILITY  OF  CHURCH  65 

of  man  and  especially  on  the  brotherhood  of  believers. 
The  brotherhood  that  Jesus  came  to  establish  is  an 
inclusive  brotherhood,  not  an  exclusive  one.  It  is  a 
brotherhood  which  is  willing  to  take  the  lowest  and 
raise  him  to  the  level  of  the  highest.  It  is  a  brother- 
hood for  which  there  are  no  substitutes.  No  lodge 
or  club  or  any  sort  of  an  organization  can  take  the 
place  of  the  brotherhood  of  Jesus.  It  rises  even  above 
sectarian  and  denominational  lines;  yes,  it  rises  above 
national  lines.  To-day,  when  all  the  world  is  at  war, 
can  there  be  any  greater  need  to  re-emphasize  and 
preach  anew  than  that  all  men  are  brothers?  This 
idea  alone  is  large  enough  to  wipe  out  all  minor  dif- 
ferences and  to  create  a  new  interest  in  every  com- 
munity in  the  place  of  the  group  interests  that  destroy. 

Another  thought  which  needs  emphasis  to-day  is  the 
sanctity  of  the  home.  There  are  forces  at  work  which 
tend  to  undermine  the  home.  And  when  the  home  is 
undermined,  the  very  pillars  of  the  state  are  threat- 
ened. This  idea,  too,  is  large  enough  to  be  preached 
in  every  community,  and  to  overshadow  any  group 
interests  that  may  threaten  the  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity, and  it  will  tend  to  unite  the  various  conflicting 
interests  into  one  harmonious  whole. 

Finally,  there  is  need  to-day  to  draw  our  communi- 
ties together  through  the  emphasis  which  can  be  laid 
and  must  be  laid  upon  national  righteousness.  It  is 
righteousness  that  exalts  a  nation.  There  can  be  no 
righteousness  in  a  nation  except  as  it  is  found  in  the 
individual.  The  preaching  of  righteousness  and  jus- 
tice in  relation  to  social  conditions  would  do  much  to 


66  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

give  men  a  larger  idea  of  society,  and  it  would  help  to 
break  down  the  special  group  interests. 

The  responsibility  of  the  church  to  the  community 
is  this :  she  must  give  the  community  a  vision  which 
transcends  the  narrow  group  interests  that  are  usually 
found  in  a  community.  This  must  be  done  along  the 
line  which  divides  communities  into  groups.  The 
gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  is  human  enough  in  its  man- 
ward  aspects  to  meet  every  social  condition  that  may 
exist.  In  its  Godward  aspects  it  is  divine  enough  to 
furnish  the  motive  which  will  lift  men  out  of  their 
surroundings  and  place  them  on  a  higher  plane. 


THE  NEW  COUNTRY  CHURCH 
Ward  Piatt 

The  country  village  church  of  boyhood  days!  We 
stand  again  near  the  old  farmhouse.  It  is  a  sunny 
summer  Sunday  morning.  The  very  air  seems 
charged  with  healing  peace.  It  is  vibrant  with  a  single 
note,  the  wave-like  melody  of  the  old  church  bell 
whose  call  over  the  intervening  miles  seems  to  our 
childish  fancy — "  come — come.'* 

A  ride  in  the  family  wagon,  or,  better  still,  astride 
a  farm  horse,  and  we  came  to  the  church.  A  plat- 
form was  stretched  across  the  entire  front.  It  was 
filled  with  men  and  boys  visiting  and  noting  the  ar- 
rivals. 


THE  NEW  COUNTRY  CHURCH  ()7 

One  felt  when  he  drove  in  at  the  church  gate  that 
he  was  passing  a  weekly  inspection.  It  was  an  occa- 
sion. When  the  last  bell  had  "  tolled,"  and  choir  and 
preacher  and  people  were  in  their  places,  the  preacher 
read  the  first  hymn  as  if  a  momentous  message  was  in 
waiting.  Scattered  among  the  company  were  com- 
manding figures  who  even  yet  are  our  embodiment  of 
various  Christian  graces. 

We  date  mostly  from  that  company.  They  were 
our  sponsors  and  our  tribunal  if  we  wandered.  A 
fine  new  church  has  succeeded  the  old.  The  glory  of 
the  latter  house  totally  eclipses  the  former,  yet  to  us 
there  is  but  one  church  preeminent — the  old  box  struc- 
ture of  our  boyhood. 

This  is  the  experience  of  thousands,  and  if  the  pres- 
ent country  church  rises  to  its  mission  it  will  be  the 
experience  of  millions.  To  make  to-day's  rural 
church  to  a  countryside  anything  like  what  the  hamlet 
church  has  been  to  us  would  be  a  godsend  to  our 
American  life. 

The  great  body  of  our  Protestantism  is  rural.  A 
decided  minority  of  us  are  in  great  cities.  A  new 
country  church  that  will  fit  these  new  times  as  well 
as  the  old  did  past  times — a  church  that  will  give  the 
equivalent  of  our  former  chance  to  the  young  in  this 
their  year  191 5 — is  a  fundamental  requisite  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  But  literally  to  restore  for  them  the 
church  of  our  youth  would  prove  a  perversion.  Our 
church  fitted  our  youth.    It  would  misfit  theirs. 

This  means,  then,  that  a  reconstructed  rural  church 
in  too  many  cases  is  an  inferior  copy  of  the  old  with 


68  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

almost  no  adaptation  to  the  present  generation.     It 
is  much  deserted.    A  museum  is  seldom  crowded. 

What  changes  have  so  antiquated  the  old  rural 
church?  Generally  speaking  those  which  might  be 
expected  in  a  virile,  progressive  nation,  but  especially 
the  new  agriculture  and  its  concomitants, — ^better 
roads,  rural  mail  routes,  and  modern  country  schools. 
Rural  intelligence,  as  ever,  ballasts  the  nation.  One 
institution  has  lagged  in  the  march — the  country 
church.  It  is  not  in  the  front  of  the  procession  as 
formerly.  It  will,  however,  more  than  regain  its 
former  preeminence.  The  new  country  life  movement, 
spreading  over  the  nation,  not  only  means  a  recon- 
structed rural  life  but  one  which  will  demand  the 
highest  type  of  Christian  ministry. 

The  ministry  itself  will  be  the  chief  pioneer  of  this 
new  church  life.  It  will  adjust  itself  to  modern,  pro- 
gressive community  life.  The  agricultural  college  and 
state  educational  leaders  are  master  builders  in  this 
new  order,  but  when  the  arch  of  the  social  structure 
is  to  receive  its  keystone  they  look  for  one  man  to 
place  it — the  modern  country  preacher. 

No  question  in  Christian  circles  is  more  insistent 
than  ''What  of  the  country  church?"  Just  now  it 
overshadows  discussion  concerning  city  conditions. 
The  case  diagnosed  shows  the  utter  dependence  of  the 
city  on  the  country.  So  helpless  is  the  city  in  its 
relationships  to  the  country  that  a  possible  separation 
would  bankrupt  the  city, — materially,  intelkctually, 
and  morally,  and  this  in  short  order.  This  makes  clear 
the  debt  of  the  city  to  the  country.    The  city  has  ex- 


THE  NEW  COUNTRY  CHURCH        69 

ploited  it.  Its  monstrous  maw  has  with  reckless  prodi- 
gaHty  swallowed  and  wasted  the  resources  of  the  open 
country  until  now  the  city  is  in  danger  because  of  these 
depleted  sources  of  its  life.  Not  only  has  the  city 
directly  preyed  upon  the  country;  it  has  urbanized  it. 
That  is,  it  has  replaced  the  ideals  of  the  country  with 
those  of  the  city.  The  people  of  the  country  measure 
rural  life  in  terms  of  the  city.  In  dress,  social  life, 
recreation,  home  life,  the  country  counts  progress  as  an 
approximation  to  city  standards. 

All  this  must  be  changed  or  our  national  founda- 
tions will  be  undermined.  We  must  have  a  country 
life  in  every  way  satisfying,  happy,  and  remunerative 
or  our  Republic  cannot  endure. 

What  We  Mean  by  "  Rural  " 

By  "  rural  '^  we  mean  any  community  of  whatever 
size  whose  outlook  is  dominantly  agricultural.  This 
might  include  some  towns  of  five  thousand  or  more, 
while  suburban  villages  of  one  thousand  or  more  could 
be  classed  as  urban.  The  United  States  census  draws 
the  line  between  ci-ty  and  country  at  twenty-five  hun- 
dred, but  this,  while  convenient,  cannot  replace  the 
really  very  irregular  boundary.  This  applies  equally 
to  churches.  Some  in  towns  of  more  than  twenty-five 
hundred  are  largely  dependent  on  a  rural  constituency, 
while  in  much  smaller  places  the  membership  is  mostly 
city  suburbanites. 

However  the  country  may  be  depleted  in  population 
in  spots,  and  especially  in  people  who  may  help  most 
to  build  up  a  community,  yet  throughout  the  whole 


70  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

rural  area  there  is  no  lack  of  people.  In  1880,  in  com- 
munities of  twenty- five  hundred  or  less,  we  had  thirty- 
five  and  one  third  millions,  and  in  19 10  nearly  fifty 
millions.  The  increase  in  the  decade  ending  in  19 10 
was  1 1.2  per  cent.  The  farm  directly  supports  almost 
half  our  citizens,  and  nearly  half  our  children  are  born 
and  brought  up  there. 

The  depletion  of  the  country  by  removals  to  the 
city  has  probably  about  ceased.  That  is,  city  growth 
is  now  largely  due  to  immigration  and  the  birth-rate.^ 

Country  Life  Possibilities 

The  country  is  not  to  set  itself  over  against  the  city; 
both  are  interdependent.  It  is,  however,  to  have  a 
self-respecting  life  of  its  own  which  with  all  men  will 
rank  with  that  of  the  city.  This  will  reduce  the  ques- 
tion of  residence,  urban  or  rural,  to  one  of  personal 
choice. 

Granting  all  this,  it  will  at  once  be  seen  that  the 
difference  between  urban  and  rural  life  is  not  one  of 
people,  but  of  organization.  In  fact,  people  of  the 
country  rank  in  possibilities  above  city  dwellers.  But 
this  matter  of  the  organization  of  rural  life  is  a  field 
so  wide  and  difficult  as  to  challenge  the  highest  gifts 
of  our  best  people  everywhere.  It  means  a  new  agri- 
culture, a  new  rural  school,  and  a  new  rural  church. 
These  three  are  inseparable.  Decadent  agriculture 
means  inferior  schools  and  churches.  An  inferior 
school  means  the  moving  out  of  progressive  families. 

*  For  these  and  other  facts  see  Fiske,   The  Challenge  of  the 
Country,  chapters  I,  H. 


THE  NEW  COUNTRY  CHURCH        71 

An  inferior  church  means  low  morals  and  a  lack  of 
adequate  life  motives.  These  three  at  low  ebb  mean 
economic,  mental,  and  moral  desolation.  The  nation 
and  states  are  becoming  fully  alive  to  the  necessary 
conservation  of  rural  life. 

An  Awakened  Government 

Liberal  national  land  grants  and  annual  appropria- 
tions to  state  agricultural  colleges  are  bringing  these 
institutions  to  a  level  of  efficiency  shared  by  few 
agencies  anywhere.  Recent  large  appropriations  show 
a  quickened  sense  of  emergency  extension  work.  The 
state  now  carries  the  agricultural  college  to  the  farm- 
ing community  and  stays  for  a  week.  It  goes  out  to 
individual  farms.  It  will  there  seek  out  the  last  de- 
crepit fruit  tree  and  prescribe  a  cure.  We  now  have 
the  county  agricultural  superintendent.  He  is  land 
doctor  and  physician  at  large  for  the  farmers'  material 
ills.  One  county  adds  to  its  superintendency  a  trained 
woman  to  lead  in  household  economics.  The  state, 
through  its  persistent  propaganda  of  soil  salvation, 
sets  a  pace  for  the  church  in  soul  salvation. 

GOOD-BY   TO   THE  LiTTLE  ReD   ScHOOLHOUSE 

The  present  old-style  country  school  will  ere  long 
be  on  the  scrap-heap.  It  educates  indifferently  or  in 
terms  of  the  town.  The  new  curriculum  is  not  less 
broad,  but  it  walks  and  talks  in  the  open  fields.  It 
takes  account  of  stars  and  old  civilizations  and  moss- 
grown  languages,  but  it  also  helps  us  to  know  every- 


^2  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

day  growing  things  and  what  concerns  folks  now  and 
what  the  animals  and  birds  are  saying. 

The  modern  rural  school  introduces  the  child  to  na- 
ture, and  gets  him  on  such  intimate  terms  with  her 
that  she  imparts  to  him  the  wonder-secrets  of  world 
life,  and  opens  his  eyes  and  ears  to  a  thousand  sights 
and  sounds  which  will  so  transfigure  the  open  country 
that  for  him  to  be  away  from  it  is  to  live  in  exile.  The 
consolidated  country  school  is  coming  as  swift  and 
sure  as  springtime.  For  one  to  connect  up  with  the 
currents  which  make  for  the  new  agriculture  and  the 
new  country  school  is  to  be  jerked  out  of  a  groove 
and  set  going  in  an  orbit.  Such  a  risk  is  marked 
"  dangerous  "  for  those  who  so  revere  the  old  ways 
that  they  are  happier  to  die  on  the  junk-heap.  This, 
however,  is  the  last  generation  that  will  speak  in  polite 
terms  of  that  choice. 

As  prophets  of  this  new  century  we  do  well  to  meas- 
ure the  enormous  governmental  push  behind  the  farm 
and  rural  school,  that  we  may  estimate  the  push  neces- 
sary to  save  the  country  church  from  stranding, — from 
being  in  the  next  ten  years  the  most  belated  institution 
of  the  countryside.  It  will  not  be  that,  for  God's 
people  will  put  it  at  the  front.  This  will  be  done  by 
noble  exploits  and  as  heroic  leadership  as  ever  marked 
the  heavenly  argonauts  in  pioneering  days. 

The  Church  the  Crown  of  Country  Life 

Leaders  in  agriculture  and  education  view  with  sym- 
pathetic solicitude  the  future  of  the  country  church, 
for  they  know  that  better  farms  and  better  schools 


THE  NEW  COUNTRY  CHURCH        73 

cannot  alone  furnish  the  crowning  motive  and  ideal 
of  life.  Only  the  church  of  God  can  do  that;  and 
to  fill  this  splendid  office  she  must  be  there,  in  pro- 
gram, equipment,  leadership,  and  strength,  holding  her 
place  in  the  van. 

How  shall  this  be  done  when  she  cannot  command 
the  vast  resources  of  the  state  which  stand  back  of 
her  handmaids, — agriculture  and  the  school  ?  It  shall 
be  done,  first  of  all,  by  the  country  preacher.  He  will 
see  in  his  task  the  biggest  God-commissioned  enter- 
prise of  this  generation.  With  slender  means  he  may 
hew  his  way  as  did  the  prophets  and  all  great  souls  of 
the  centuries.  The  fact  that  he  does  this  is  his  cre- 
dential. A  man  who  in  poverty  thinks  he  cannot  thus 
achieve  has  likewise  his  credential  in  his  failure.  He 
is  not  one  of  the  elect.  Foreordination  is  full  half 
human  grit.  And  how  will  he  achieve?  First,  by 
informing  himself.  The  literature  is  knee-deep. 
There  is  a  long  list  of  books.  Not  that  he  needs  at 
first  to  read  them  all.  If  he  is  a  beginner,  on  applica- 
tion, his  home  missionary  office  will  name  for  him  a 
half  dozen  inexpensive  books  which,  together,  will 
open  up  the  new  agriculture  and  rural  school  as  re- 
lated to  the  new  rural  church.  But  in  this  work  we 
counsel  the  broadest  cooperation.  If  the  grange  or  the 
consolidated  school  be  effectively  operating,  let  him 
find  wherein  his  church  may  fail  to  be  abreast  of  the 
new  countryside  creation.  Above  all  let  the  preachers 
of  a  countryside  form  a  study  unit,  dividing  the  three- 
fold subject  in  such  a  way  that  each  pastor  is  to  head 
up  a  particular  department  and  lead  in  it.    The  coun- 


74  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

tryside  is  one,  and  when  more  than  one  homogeneous 
church  is  there,  they  must  cooperate  in  all  that  makes 
for  essential  unity  or  prove  obstructors  of  the  King's 
highway. 

These  pastors,  by  communicating  with  their  state 
agricultural  college  and  state  educational  headquarters, 
will  find  how  alert  and  ready  are  these  agencies  to 
cooperate  with  them  in  the  introduction  of  better  agri- 
culture and  better  schools.  This  mining  and  sapping 
must  of  course  be  done  without  advertising.  To 
preach  directly  on  these  themes  might  defeat  a  good 
purpose.  Yet,  after  all  study  and  planning,  the  pastors 
of  a  community  must  make  their  own  program  and 
work  it  themselves.  The  leadership  and  helpers 
should  be  indigenous. 

To  assume  that  the  country  pastor  can  be  less  able 
in  the  pulpit  and  less  fertile  in  resources  than  the  city 
pastor  is  to  confess  ignorance  on  the  whole  subject. 
No  audiences  better  know  preaching  when  they  hear 
it  or  respond  more  readily  to  sane  leadership  than 
those  whose  houses  of  worship  adjoin  open  fields. 
For  years  to  come  our  leadership,  religious  and  na- 
tional, will  come  from  the  country.  We  must  see  to 
it  that  this  source  of  life  to  our  nation,  which  in  turn 
leads  the  world,  is  kept  at  its  best.  Home  mission 
boards  can  do  no  better  than  to  back  picked  men  for 
rural  churches,  financially  and  inspirationally,  until 
their  work  is  self-supporting,  as  thus  it  may  be. 

We  not  only  go  back  to  the  farm  for  the  necessities 
of  life,  but  from  the  beginning  there  has  been  a  sanc- 
tity in  soil.     Man  was  started  an  agriculturist.     The 


ALLIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  75 

Old  Testament  is  a  farmer's  book.  Amos  was  a  man 
of  cattle.  The  divine  Christ,  while  he  beheld  the  city, 
was  a  man  of  the  country,  and  in  his  sermons  are 
landscape  pictures  of  rolling  ifields  and  trees  and  living 
water.  There  goes  the  farmer  with  swinging  tread, 
broadcasting  seed,  and  the  birds  follow  in  flocks. 
Growing  things  are  there,  mustard  plants,  briers,  grass, 
and  wild  flowers.  Yonder  hillside  is  flecked  with 
sheep,  while  near  at  hand  is  a  farmyard  where  a  cluck- 
ing hen  covers  her  chickens.  All  is  framed  in  the 
morning  and  the  evening  sky  from  which  the  preacher 
reads  the  signs  of  fair  or  stormy  weather.  It  is  all 
there,  and  more,  and  when  we  may  restore  to  the 
preacher  of  city  or  country  the  Master's  rural  note  and 
outdoor  imagery — we  shall  help  a  weary  world  to  be 
young  again,  and  life  will  be  springtime. 


THE  ALLIES  OE  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH 

{Report  of  Committee) 

Albert  E.  Roberts,  Chairman,  John  Alexander, 
Kenyon  L.  Butterfield,  Thomas  N.  Carver, 
Jessie  Field,  A.  A.  Heald,  A.  A.  Hyde,  Edward 
Van  Alstyne,  D.  C.  Drew. 

The  allies  of  the  country  church  are  many,  and 
may  be  divided  as  follows : 

I. — Those  organizations  that  are  an  integral  part  of 
church  org  animations  J  such  as 


^6  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

1.  The  Sunday-school. 

2.  The  Young  People's  Societies,  Junior  and  Senior. 

3.  The  Men's  Brotherhood. 

4.  The  Missionary  Societies,  Home  and  Foreign. 

5.  Girls'  Friendly  Society. 

6.  Ladies'  Aid  Societies,  etc. 

II. — The  national  and  state  organisations  which  in- 
stitute, supervise,  and  reenforce  these  organizations, 
such  as 

1.  The  International  Sunday-school  Association  and 
the  State  Sunday-school  Association. 

2.  The  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  and 
kindred  societies;  State  and  County  Young  People's 
Unions  and  Guilds,  etc. 

3.  National  and  State  denominational  brotherhood 
movements,  including  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew. 

4.  National  Women's  and  Men's  Home  and  For- 
eign Missionary  Boards. 

5.  Denominational  Social  Service  bodies;  Federa- 
tion of  Churches,  etc. 

6.  American  Sunday-school  Union,  etc. 

III. — Those  organizations,  not  an  integral  part  of 
the  local  church,  hut  which  are  Christian  in  objective 
and  which  are  by  their  own  rules  controlled  by  church 
people^  such  as 

1.  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  local, 
state,  county,  territorial,  and  national. 

2.  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  local, 
county,  state,  and  national. 


ALLIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH     n 

3.  Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  county, 
territorial,  and  national. 

4.  State  Bible  Societies. 

5.  Missionary  Education  Movement. 

6.  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement. 

IV. — Those  organizations  which  have  the  com- 
munity service  ideal  hut  which  are  not  distinctively 
under  church  auspices,  such  as 

1.  The  Grange,  local,  state,  and  national. 

2.  Village  Improvement  Society. 

3.  The  Board  of  Trade,  or  business  organizations. 

4.  Libraries. 

5.  Schools. 

6.  County  Farm  Bureaus. 

7.  State  Agricultural  Colleges,  extension  service. 

8.  Societies  for  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Children, 
county  and  state. 

9.  Playground  Associations. 

10.  State  Boards  of  Health. 


II 
12 

13 
14 
15 
16 


Medical  Society. 

Free  Public  Library  Commissions. 

Civic  Leagues. 

Civic  Federations. 

Boy  Scouts  and  Camp  Fire  Girls. 

County  Agricultural  Associations. 


The  functions  of  I.  and  11.  are  generally  thoroughly 
understood;  but  there  is  without  doubt  a  need  for  a 
clearer  definition  of  relationship,  program,  and  plan 
of  cooperation  of  those  agencies  included  in  III.  and 


78  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

IV.  Your  Committee  recommends  that  there  be  com- 
piled methods  of  community  service  which  the  aUies 
of  the  country  church  have  developed  and  found  prac- 
tical. It  may  lead  up  into  an  attractive  printed  book- 
let prepared  by  this  Committee  under  the  auspices  of 
the  Federal  Council,  which  will  give  definite  help  and 
information  in  these  directions.  There  are  some  pub- 
lications already  available  which  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association,  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association,  and  other  organizations  working  in  co- 
operation with  the  church  have  used  with  success  in 
work  with  boys  and  young  men  and  girls  and  young 
women  which  would  be  helpful  to  country  pastors,  as 
well  as  to  all  others  who  are  interested  in  work  in 
country  churches. 

Every  organization  which  can  be  considered  as  an 
ally  of  the  country  church  has  a  certain  definite  field 
of  its  own  in  which  it  is  more  or  less  of  a  specialist 
serving  all  the  churches.  There  are  many  plans  which 
have  been  inaugurated  with  success  by  the  various 
agencies,  such  as  those  mentioned  above, — the  Mis- 
sionary Education  Movement,  the  Laymen's  Mission- 
ary Movement,  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  and  others.  For  instance,  there  should  be  in- 
cluded in  some  way  and  be  made  available  to  church 
leaders  material  on  the  relationship  of  the  church  in 
the  country  to  the  boys  and  young  men  and  the  girls 
and  young  women  in  the  community;  the  kind  of  op- 
portunities for  service  which  they  should  have  in  the 
church;  the  kind  of  Bible  study  that  would  appeal  to 
them;  and  the  kind  of  recreation  they  should  be  of- 


ALLIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  79 

fered;  and  how  to  develop  leaders  for  all  of  these 
activities. 

In  the  report  on  ''  The  Function,  Policy,  and  Pro- 
gram of  the  Country  Church  "  it  is  stated  that  ''  the 
church  should  regard  itself  as  the  servant  of  the  en- 
tire community,  and  should  be  deeply  concerned  with 
all  legitimate  agencies  in  the  community.  ...  It 
should  suggest  and  inspire  rather  than  instigate  and 
supervise,  but  it  may  undertake  any  new  service  for 
which  there  is  not  other  provision."  ^ 

This  report  also  suggests  that  the  Rural  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  and  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association,  the  Young  People's  Societies, 
the  Missionary  Education  Movement,  and  similar  or- 
ganized allies  of  the  country  church,  should  be  util- 
ized, encouraged,  and  supported  in  their  work  by  the 
country  church.  This  includes,  of  course,  financial  as 
well  as  moral  support,  and  sometimes  the  use  of 
church  buildings  for  these  allies  of  the  country  church. 

Granted  that  this  is  a  true  conception  of  the  church's 
relationship  to  its  allies,  the  twofold  question  arises: 
first,  as  to  how  the  church  can  help  the  allies;  second, 
as  to  how  the  allies  can  help  the  church. 

Lest  there  be  any  misunderstanding  in  regard  to  our 
position,  let  us  say  frankly  that  we  believe  the  church 
to  be  the  vitalizing  and  fundamental  agency  for  rural 
redirection.  From  it  should  emanate  the  inspiration 
and  enthusiasm,  not  only  to  suggest  and  sometimes 
initiate  all  good  work,  but  to  support  it.  Notwith- 
standing the  weaknesses  and  errors  with  which  the 
1  See  page  120. 


8o  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

country  church  is  charged  by  many  church  leaders  as 
well  as  critics  from  outside,  it  is  still  the  one  organiza- 
tion that  persists  in  most  communities,  and  it  has,  or 
should  have,  the  attitude  of  helpfulness  toward  every 
agency  for  good.  Its  position  should  be,  not  what  can 
we  get  from  the  allies  that  will  help  us,  but  how  can 
we  utilize  and  energize  these  allies  to  their  highest 
efficiency  and  for  the  extension  of  the  kingdom  of 
God. 

It  should,  therefore,  encourage  its  men,  if  they  have 
special  fitness  for  leadership  of  boys  and  young  men, 
to  support  and  work  with  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association,  the  county  Farm  Bureau,  the  Agricul- 
tural College,  and  other  men's  organizations.  In  the 
same  way  it  should  encourage  the  women  members 
of  the  church,  if  they  have  capacity,  to  promote  very 
earnestly  such  community  enterprises  as  the  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association,  the  Women's  Chris- 
tian Temperance  Union,  the  Grange,  arts  and  crafts 
guilds,  playgrounds,  etc. 

These  specialized  agencies,  if  properly  used,  encour- 
aged, and  supported  will  yield  large  dividends  in  the 
vitality  of  the  church  life. 

On  the  other  hand,  these  agencies  may  be  of  tre- 
mendous direct  help  in  the  promotion  of  church  activi- 
ties. The  handbook,  already  referred  to,  may  be  used 
by  an  energetic  and  progressive  pastor,  Sunday-school 
superintendent,  or  leader  of  young  people  to  splendid 
advantage,  but  the  largest  service  that  can  be  rendered 
to  the  church  by  its  allies  is  the  service  of  suggestion 
or  demonstration. 


ALLIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  8i 

What  the  country  community  needs  at  the  present 
time  more  than  anything  else  is  a  demonstration  of 
some  of  the  fine  theories  that  have  been  advanced  in 
the  past  few  years. 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  the  solidarity  of  the 
community  is  to  be  greatly  desired  in  the  country. 
The  community  approach  to  the  problem  of  rural  re- 
direction can  often  best  be  made  by  an  interdenomina- 
tional agency.  A  demonstration  of  community-wide 
play  festivals,  civic  improvements,  picnics,  surveys,  so- 
cials, etc.,  is  the  finest  incentive  toward  unity  of  effort 
in  things  distinctly  spiritual. 

The  activities  promoted  by  the  allies  of  the  country 
church  are  in  themselves  worth  while,  but  the  service 
of  suggestion  which  they  render  is  of  far  greater  sig- 
nificance. Not  the  least  important  in  this  service  of 
suggestion  is  a  demonstration  of  the  possibility  of 
community  cooperation  or  getting  together.  Many 
local  church  leaders,  because  of  repeated  failure  of 
church  cooperation,  have  come  to  believe  that  com- 
munity cooperation  is  impossible. 

A  practical  demonstration  of  community  coopera- 
tion, in  a  town  clean-up,  led  to  the  uniting  of  two  rural 
churches,  the  improving  of  the  parsonage,  the  con- 
struction of  a  parish  house,  and  the  securing  of  an  ef- 
ficient pastor  who  was  a  real  community  leader  as  well 
as  pastor  of  a  church  which  attracted  and  held  the 
interest  and  cooperation  of  practically  all  the  boys  and 
men  of  the  community. 

A  boys'  group  under  the  auspices  of  an  ally  in  an- 
other town  brought  together  two  churches  that  for 


82  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

over  forty  years  had  been  a  strong  divisive  factor  in 
community  life. 

In  another  community  an  ally  promoted  a  survey  in 
which  men  who  had  been  religiously  antagonistic  for 
years  were  brought  together,  resulting  in  the  awaken- 
ing of  a  local  initiative  to  get  together  on  the  part  of 
church  leaders  hitherto  regarded  as  impossible  in  mat- 
ters pertaining  to  church  union  or  federation. 

The  promotion  of  interdenominational  conferences 
for  older  boys  and  girls,  where  world-wide  vision  of 
the  Kingdom  are  presented  by  broad-minded  men  and 
women  and  where  the  basis  of  appeal  is  Christian 
service,  is  doing  much  to  produce  a  type  of  men  and 
women  in  the  next  generation  who,  with  no  less  a 
religious  motive,  will  stand  for  a  more  timely  and 
practical  application  of  Christianity  to  the  problems 
of  the  country  church  than  their  fathers  could  possibly 
have  done.  It  is  obvious  that  no  one  church  could 
efficiently  promote  and  direct  such  conferences,  but 
allies  of  the  church  are  serving  all  the  churches  most 
efifectively  in  this  way. 

Authorities  on  country  life  everywhere  agree  that 
its  greatest  need  is  leadership.  This  is  conspicuously 
true  of  the  country  church;  and  with  this  thing  in 
mind  one  of  the  allies  of  the  country  church  has 
brought  out  a  text-book,  The  Challenge  of  the  Country, 
written  by  Professor  Fiske  of  Oberlin.  In  this  book 
the  opportunities  for  service  in  the  country  and  the 
challenge  for  the  best  of  leadership  are  set  forth  in 
a  most  attractive  study.  Six  thousand  of  these  books 
were  in  use  in  classes  promoted  by  the  Young  Men's 


ALLIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  83 

Christian  Association  and  the  Young  Women's  Chris- 
tian Association  in  the  colleges  and  the  universities  last 
year,  and,  furthermore,  at  the  Student  Conferences 
which  are  attended  by  representative  student  leaders 
from  all  the  colleges  and  universities,  normal  classes 
were  conducted  in  the  study  of  this  book  by  some  of 
the  best  rural  life  leaders  of  the  country.  The  object 
aimed  at  was  to  send  back  tO'  the  colleges  young  men 
and  young  women  qualified  to  teach  this  course. 

It  is  not  strange  that  at  the  close  of  these  confer- 
ences many  country  young  men  and  young  women  have 
said  that  they  have  never  looked  upon  the  country 
before  as  a  field  of  service  for  a  life-work.  The 
writer  knows  at  least  seven  young  men  who  are  pre- 
paring themselves  for  the  rural  ministry  as  a  result  of 
one  such  course  covering  a  period  of  ten  days  in  the 
summer  of  19 15.  They  are  entering  the  rural  min- 
istry with  the  same  enthusiasm  that  has  characterized 
the  thousands  of  the  very  flower  of  our  American 
colleges  and  universities  who  have  enlisted  for  service 
in  the  foreign  field  in  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years. 

The  allies  of  the  country  church  have  served  and 
will  serve  many  denominations  in  this  way  much  more 
effectively  than  they  could  be  served  otherwise. 

One  of  the  problems  of  pastors  and  religious  leaders 
is  to  connect  up  with  the  city  churches  the  large  num- 
ber of  boys  and  young  men  who  are  leaving  the  coun- 
try for  the  city.  An  effectual  system  known  as  the 
Corresponding  Membership  System  has  been  developed 
by  one  of  the  allies  of  the  country  church,  whereby 
prominent  laymen  act  as  corresponding  members  in  the 


84  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

rural  communities  and  on  blanks  specially  prepared 
inform  the  state  offices  when  young  men  are  leaving 
their  homes  to  begin  life  in  the  city  or  the  college. 
Immediately  on  receiving  this  information  the  state 
office  gets  it  into  the  hands  of  the  representative  in  the 
place  in  which  the  young  man  is  going,  and  at  once 
he  is  looked  up  and  made  acquainted  with  helpful 
friends,  and  if  possible  representatives  of  his  own  de- 
nomination. The  same  thing  is  done  by  another  ally 
of  the  country  church  for  the  young  women. 

No  one  denomination  could  do  this  work  effectually, 
but  the  allies  of  the  country  church  serve  all  denomina- 
tions. There  are  many  accounts  of  young  men  and 
young  women  helped  at  the  very  time  they  needed  help 
most — just  at  the  beginning  of  their  life  in  the  city 
or  the  large  town — that  read  like  romances.  Through 
training  institutes  and  summer  schools  and  conferences 
conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  allies  a  tremendous 
service  is  being  rendered  the  country  church,  for  in 
these  gatherings  thousands  of  young  men  and  women 
are  seeing  the  vision  of  the  possibility  of  service  and 
many  who  have  been  of  little  value  as  leaders  are  be- 
coming tremendous  assets. 

One  of  the  greatest  needs  of  the  country  church  is 
to  protect  the  efficient  young  pastors  who,  having  given 
their  lives  to  service  in  the  country,  are  constantly  beset 
with  appeals  to  leave  their  charges  and  go  to  the  city. 
It  is  difficult  to  make  many  church  leaders  see  that  one 
of  the  greatest  handicaps  of  the  church  in  the  past  has 
been  that  it  has  been  used  as  a  stepping-stone  or 
training-school  for  the  city.     Only  recently  an  unusu- 


ALLIES  OF  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  85 

ally  effective  young  pastor  appealed  to  us  to  cooperate 
with  him  in  protecting  himself  from  the  good-will  of 
his  friends.  I  know  of  no  finer  service  that  the  allies 
can  render  the  country  church  than  to  encourage 
young  men  not  only  to  enter  the  rural  pastorate  but 
to  remain  in  it  until  the  commimity  is  brought  to  a  high 
state  of  efficiency. 

The  allies  recognize  the  fact  that  life  has  been  taken 
out  of  the  country;  and  nothing  will  bring  the  church, 
the  home,  and  the  school  to  its  own  like  the  reinvest- 
ment of  life.  There  are  thousands  of  ways  in  which 
the  allies  can  and  do  help  the  country  church.  There 
are  places  naturally  where  at  times  what  is  intended 
for  supplementing  looks  like  supplanting  and  coopera- 
tion is  mistaken  for  competition,  but  most  of  the  allies 
with  which  we  are  familiar  recognize  the  church  as 
the  fundamental  agency,  and  as  such  desire  to  give 
it  the  very  best  help  and  cooperation. 

What  the  Master  said  with  reference  to  the  life  of 
the  individual  holds  true  regarding  the  country 
church.  That  church  which  loses  its  life  in  hearty 
cooperation  with  these  legitimate  allies  will  find  its 
larger  life  in  increased  influence  and  power  in  the 
community;  and  it  is  equally  true  that  the  allies  which 
desire  to  be  of  the  largest  possible  use  in  rural  redirec- 
tion can  never  attain  their  greatest  efficiency  without 
the  recognition  of  the  church  as  the  final  source  of 
inspiration  in  all  true  Christian  leadership. 


86  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  THE 
COUNTRY  GIRL 

Jessie  Field 

In  these  days  we  are  coming  to  know  that  the  chance 
for  an  abundant  Hfe  for  women  and  girls  in  the  coun- 
try is  at  the  very  foundation  of  the  possibiHty  of 
making  the  country  the  best  place  in  which  to  live. 
A  country  girl,  when  asked  if  she  liked  the  country, 
replied :  "  Yes,  the  country  is  a  fine  place  to  live — 
when  the  work  is  done." 

Many  a  farmer  rents  his  farm  and  moves  tO'  town 
on  account  of  his  wife  and  daughters.  Surely  there 
is  no  point  in  raising  more  corn  or  better  stock  and 
getting  more  money  from  farming  unless  that  money 
be  used  for  better  houses  and  churches  and  schools, — 
for  more  life  in  the  country  community. 

So  the  country  church  faces  the  big  opportunity  of 
service  to  country  girls, — the  chance  to  bring  to  them 
the  chance  for  expression  of  their  whole  lives. 

To  do  this  the  church  must  create  the  motive  spirit- 
power  of  leadership  in  teachers  of  schools  and  of 
Sunday-schools  and  must  work  sympathetically  with 
every  movement  for  scientific  home  making,  for  light- 
ening the  work  in  farmhouses,  and  for  the  bringing 
in  of  music  and  literature,  and  the  right  kind  of  recrea- 
tion and  social  life.  The  country  church  should  use 
to  the  utmost  in  its  community  the  County  Young 
Women's  Christian  Association,  calling  on  the  county 
secretary  as  a  leader  of  girls,  who  is  trained  for  the 


COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  GIRL    87 

work,  who  understands  girls,  who  is  in  touch  with 
present-day  resources  for  girls,  and  who  can  help  in 
making  Jesus  Christ  real  in  their  every-day  lives. 

Certain  it  is  that  the  country  church  that  opens  the 
door  for  the  biggest  and  best  chances  to  its  girls  will 
find  added  life  for  the  present  and  for  future  years. 
It  will  inspire  the  country  girl  to  enter  into  the 
breadth  and  sweep  of  this  progressive  ideal : 

I  am  glad  I  live  in  the  country.  I  love  its  beauty 
and  its  spirit.  I  rejoice  in  the  things  I  can  do  as  a 
country  girl  for  my  home  and  my  neighborhood. 

I  believe  I  can  share  in  the  beauty  around  me;  in 
the  fragrance  of  the  orchards  in  spring,  in  the  weight 
of  the  ripe  wheat  at  harvest,  in  the  morning  songs  of 
birds,  and  in  the  glow  of  the  sunset  on  the  far  horizon. 
I  want  to  express  this  beauty  in  my  own  life  as  nat- 
urally and  happily  as  the  wild  rose  blooms  by  the 
roadside. 

I  believe  I  can  have  a  part  in  the  courageous  spirit 
of  the  country.  This  spirit  has  entered  into  the  brook 
in  our  pasture.  The  stones  placed  in  its  way  call  forth 
its  strength  and  add  to  its  strength  a  song.  It  dwells 
in  the  tender  plants  as  they  burst  the  seed-cases  that 
imprison  them  and  push  through  the  dark  earth  to  the 
light.  It  sounds  in  the  nestling  notes  of  the  meadow- 
lark.  With  this  courageous  spirit  I,  too,  can  face  the 
hard  things  of  life  with  gladness. 

I  believe  there  is  much  I  can  do  in  my  country  home. 
Through  studying  the  best  way  to  do  my  every-day 
work  I  can  find  joy  in  common  tasks  done  well. 
Through  loving  comradeship  I  can  help  bring  into  my 


88  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

home  the  happiness  and  peace  that  are  always  so  near 
us  in  God's  out-of-door  world.  Through  such  a  home 
I  can  help  make  real  to  all  who  pass  that  way  their 
highest  ideal  of  country  life. 

I  believe  my  love  and  loyalty  for  my  country  home 
should  reach  out  in  service  to  that  larger  home  that  we 
call  our  neighborhood.  I  would  join  with  the  people 
who  live  there  in  true  friendliness.  I  would  whole- 
heartedly give  my  best  to  further  all  that  is  being  done 
for  a  better  community.  I  would  have  all  that  I  think 
and  say  and  do  help  to  unite  country  people  near  and 
far  in  that  great  Kingdom  of  Love  for  Neighbors 
which  the  Master  came  to  establish — the  Master  who 
knew  and  cared  for  country  ways  and  country  folks. 


THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  RURAL 
ACTIVITIES 

W.  0.  Thompson 

The  topic  assigned  to  me  was  with  the  understand- 
ing that  I  should  present  to  you  some  conditions  arising 
out  of  the  activities  of  the  federal  and  state  govern- 
ments in  rural  life.  Briefly,  let  me  survey  the  three 
great  activities  of  the  federal  government. 

First,  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  1862,  commonly 
known  as  the  Morrill  Act,  or  the  Land  Grant  Act, 
which  provided  for  the  endowment,  support,  and 
maintenance  of  at  least  one  college  in  each  state  in 
the  Union,  where  the  real  object  should  be,  without 


COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  RURAL  ACTIVITIES       89 

excluding  other  scientific  and  classical  studies,  and 
including  military  tactics,  to  teach  such  branches  of 
learning  as  are  related  to  agricultural  and  mechanic 
arts  in  such  manner  as  the  legislatures  of  the  states 
may  respectfully  prescribe,  in  order  to  promote  the 
liberal  and  practical  education  of  the  industrial  classes 
in  the  several  pursuits  and  professions  in  life.  The 
donation  of  public  lands  to  these  institutions  was  to 
provide  a  permanent  endowment  which  would  remain 
unimpaired.  As  a  result  of  this  act  there  is  now  at 
least  one  College  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts  in 
each  state  in  the  Union. 

This  act  was  supplemented  in  1890  by  what  is 
known  as  the  second  Morrill  Act,  which  provided  an 
additional  income  of  $25,000  annually  to  each  state. 
The  act  was  further  amended  by  the  so-called  Nelson 
Amendment  of  1908,  which  increased  the  sum  pro- 
vided in  the  act  of  1890  to  a  maximum  of  $50,000  per 
annum.  Thus  there  is  given  to  each  state  for  its 
agricultural  college  the  original  endowment  of  public 
lands  and  $50,000  annually.  In  response  to  this 
endowment  by  the  government  the  states  have  pro- 
vided the  buildings  and  in  many  instances  several 
times  the  revenue  as  provided  by  the  federal  govern- 
ment. The  result  is  that  the  colleges  of  agriculture 
throughout  the  country  are  among  the  best  endowed 
and  most  amply  equipped  institutions  in  the  country. 

Second,  the  Hatch  Act  of  1887,  which  provided  for 
the  establishment  of  Agricultural  Experiment  Sta- 
tions in  each  state  in  the  Union.  This  act  provided 
an  annual  appropriation  of  $15,000.     An  amendatory 


90  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

act  in  1906,  known  as  the  Adams  Act,  doubled  this 
appropriation,  making  the  present  maximum  of 
$30,000  annually. 

These  institutions  have  been  engaged  in  scientific 
research  upon  the  problems  underlying  agricultural 
progress.  They  have  published  a  large  number  of 
important  scientific  documents  that  constitute  the 
basis  of  a  great  agricultural  library  for  all  agricultural 
institutions. 

Third,  the  Smith-Lever  Agricultural  Extension  Act, 
which  was  approved  May  8,  19 14.  This  provided  for 
an  initial  appropriation  of  $10,000  to  each  state  in 
the  Union,  and  for  an  additional  sum  of  $600,000  for 
the  second  year,  and  thereafter  an  increase  of 
$500,000  annually  until  it  should  be  a  maximum  of 
$4,100,000  in  addition  to  the  original  appropriation 
of  $480,000. 

The  purpose  of  this  act  was  to  bring,  through  co- 
operative methods  between  the  federal  government 
and  the  several  agricultural  colleges,  the  results  of 
scientific  agricultural  research  to  the  home  of  the  indi- 
vidual farmer.  The  method  of  instruction  is  through 
extension  schools, — field  demonstrations  to  persons 
not  resident  in  or  attending  agricultural  colleges.  For 
one  hundred  years  we  have  been  sending  our  chil- 
dren to  school.  It  is  now  proposed  to  send  the  best 
results  of  the  school  back  to  the  home  by  way  of  prac- 
tical demonstration  in  the  great  fields  of  agriculture 
and  home  economics.  It  should  be  added  that  in 
order  to  secure  the  increased  appropriations  provided 
in  the  extension  act  each  state  must  meet  the  appro- 


COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  RURAL  ACTIVITIES       91 

priation  of  the  federal  government  by  an  equal  appro- 
priation for  such  purposes.  This  will  result  in  a  mini- 
mum of  nearly  $10,000,000  annually  expended  in  this 
demonstration  work  which  will  be  carried  into  every 
nook  and  corner  of  the  rural  districts  of  the  United 
States  of  America.  No  more  far-reaching  act  has 
been  passed  in  a  generation. 

To  cite  a  few  instances  by  way  of  illustration,  I 
may  say  that  the  state  of  Ohio  under  this  act  reaches 
its  maximum  within  five  years  from  the  present  date. 
There  will  be  available  for  extension  work  about 
$350,000  annually.  In  a  neighboring  state  like  In- 
diana it  will  be  not  far  from  $275,000;  in  lUinois, 
not  far  from  $375,000;  in  a  state  like  Alabama,  not 
far  from  $300,000.  The  distribution  of  this  money 
is  upon  a  percentage  basis,  based  upon  the  ratio  of 
the  rural  population  of  a  given  state  to  the  total  rural 
population  of  the  entire  country. 

Aside  from  these  three  great  activities  it  must  be 
remembered  that  the  Department  of  Agriculture  at 
Washington  receives  annually  not  far  from  $20,- 
000,000,  and  that  its  activities  are  organized  in  the 
interests  of  the  agriculture  of  the  country,  including 
research  and  the  special  consideration  of  regional  and 
nation-wide  problems. 

What  now  of  the  significance  of  these  things  ?  To 
this  conference  let  me  say,  first  of  all,  that  the  admin- 
istration of  these  funds  in  all  the  departments  sug- 
gested above  has  an  immediate  bearing  upon  the  prob- 
lems of  rural  life.  Our  colleges  of  agriculture,  our 
stations,  and  the  Department  at  Washington  recog- 


92  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

nize  the  social  phase  of  rural  life,  the  economic  phase 
and  educational  phase,  and  in  fact  every  interest  that 
bears  upon  the  large  problem  of  rural  maintenance 
and  improvement. 

The  Roosevelt  Country  Life  Committee  made  an 
elaborate  study  of  rural  life  conditions.  Every  col- 
lege and  station  in  the  country  to-day  is  in  sympathy 
with  the  spirit  of  progress  in  that  commission's  re- 
port and  will  move  forward  in  every  field  offering 
support  for  agricultural  betterment.  We  must  not, 
therefore,  conceive  of  these  institutions  as  teaching  or 
scientific  institutions  devoted  exclusively  to  soil  fer- 
tility, plant  production,  or  animal  husbandry.  They 
are,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  educational  and  scientific 
institutions  having  within  their  scope  economic,  so- 
cial, and  educational  problems.  These  activities  will 
continue  and  will .  arouse  a  large  amount  of  rural 
organization.  The  men  and  women  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural extension  in  any  and  all  of  its  forms,  includ- 
ing farmers'  institutes  and  county  agent  work,  will  be 
among  the  best  representatives  of  American  agriculture 
and  thoroughly  devoted  to  the  social  and  moral  better- 
ment of  our  community  life. 

Associating  as  I  do  with  educational  organizations 
of  various  kinds,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  in  this  pres- 
ence that  I  find  no  body  of  educators  anywhere  pos- 
sessed of  a  more  profound  moral  earnestness  nor  more 
thoroughly  devoted  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare 
of  the  people  than  the  group  of  men  represented  in 
the  Association  of  Agricultural  Colleges  and  Experi- 
ment Stations. 


COUNTRY  CHURCH  AND  RURAL  ACTIVITIES       93 

These  facts  seem  to  me  to  constitute  the  greatest 
opportunity  of  the  generation  for  the  church  to  co- 
operate with  existing  agencies  in  the  accompHshment 
of  spiritual,  social,  and  moral  results.  In  fact,  we 
may  say  that  this  situation  is  a  substantial  challenge 
to  the  church.  To  lay  hold  of  an  opportunity  pre- 
sented without  expense  to  the  church  would  seem  to 
be  an  imperative  duty. 

In  presenting  this  urgent  plea  for  the  opportunity 
before  us,  let  me  impress  upon  you  that  no  fear  need 
be  entertained  about  any  controversy  with  the  state 
or  government  in  these  great  issues.  Our  coopera- 
tion will  be  most  cordially  welcomed.  The  people 
engaged  in  these  enterprises  are  already,  to  a  very 
large  degree,  the  people  now  interested  in  our  rural 
schools  and  rural  churches.  The  one  thing  we  need 
to  guard  against  is  the  development  of  any  tendency 
for  a  narrow  or  sectarian  use  of  this  opportunity. 
The  state,  in  my  humble  opinion,  is  profoundly  inter- 
ested in  religion  and  the  peaceable  fruits  of  religion. 
"  Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation;  but  sin  is  a  re- 
proach to  any  people."  The  state,  however,  is  not 
interested  in  the  perpetuation  of  particular  forms  of 
religion.  It  owns  no  antagonism  to  any  church  or 
creed,  but  the  state,  separate  from  the  church  in  this 
country,  may  not  be  brought  into  the  controversial 
sides  of  religion  or  church.  Let  us  therefore  regard 
this  great  opportunity  as  one  freighted  with  splendid 
possibilities,  provided  we  may  lay  aside  the  differ- 
ences, however  important  they  may  be,  and  put  our 
emphasis  upon  the  things  upon  which  we  agree.    For 


94  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

after  all  these  must  be  the  fundamental  and  vitally 
important  things. 

No  such  nation-wide  extension  movement  in  the 
interest  of  agriculture  has  ever  been  projected  as  is 
now  in  operation  in  the  United  States  under  the  three 
great  acts,  as  suggested  above.  In  my  opinion  no 
such  great  opportunity  has  ever  been  given  the 
church  to  organize  properly  the  spiritual  forces  of 
the  rural  community  in  the  interest  of  the  Kingdom. 
Let  us  hope  and  pray  that  this  conference  and  subse- 
quent conferences  may  open  the  way  to  a  large  utiliza- 
tion of  this  opportunity  and  to  the  speeding  of  the 
things  that  pertain  to  life  and  godliness. 


MEMOIRS    OF    A    RURAL    CHURCH 

Hubert  C.  Herring 

I  shall  bring  to  you  certain  memories  of  a  country 
church  in  the  Central  West  some  forty  years  ago,  with 
their  suggestions  for  the  rural  religious  problems  of 
to-day.  It  was  a  church  belonging  to  the  best  type  of 
its  time.  Round  about  were  fertile  farms  tilled  by 
pioneer  stock  from  New  England  and  New  York. 
The  church  building  stood  on  a  hill  in  the  place  of 
honor.  On  another  hill  near  by  was  the  district 
schoolhouse.  The  traditional  interest  in  education 
was  strong.  Large  numbers  of  the  boys  and  girls 
were  sent  away  to  academy  and  college.     There  was 


MEMOIRS  OF  A  RURAL  CHURCH  95 

a  keen  interest  in  the  problems  of  the  larger  world. 
Among  the  things  of  which  these  memories  speak  are 
these : 

1.  The  influence  of  this  church  was  potent.  It 
was  not  a  large  affair.  A  congregation  of  sixty  was 
the  maximum.  It  did  not  run  at  high  pressure.  It 
continued  to  draw  home  mission  funds  after  it  should 
have  been  self-supporting.  The  thrifty  farmers  who 
supported  it  were  never  zealous  to  pay  more  than 
they  were  obliged  to.  The  casual  observer  would 
have  said  it  was  only  an  incident  in  the  life  of  the 
community.  But  to  a  considerable  group  of  men  and 
women  now  in  middle  life  scattered  here  and  there 
over  the  earth  no  proof  of  its  power  is  required. 
They  know  that  all  life  holds  for  them  here  or  here- 
after has  its  roots  back  in  that  little  church. 

2.  These  memories  confirm  strongly  the  constant 
assertion  of  students  of  rural  life  that  the  country 
church  suffers  from  lack  of  the  cooperative  spirit.  It 
was  never  easy  to  get  the  community  to  work  together. 
There  were  many  feuds  and  factions.  The  sectarian 
spirit  caused  some  families  to  attend  church  outside 
the  parish.  Individualism  ran  to  seed.  I  cannot  re- 
call that  ministers  or  church  officers  showed  any  clear 
perception  of  the  duty  of  the  church  to  act  as  a  unify- 
ing force. 

3.  This  church  illustrated  also  the  evils  of  a  non- 
resident ministry.  At  its  organization  the  pastor 
lived  in  the  country,  cultivated  a  small  piece  of  land, 
and  drove  on  Sundays  to  the  village  for  a  second 
service.     But  the  next  pastor  and  all  who  came  after 


96  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

preferred  to  live  within  sound  of  the  locomotive,  and 
even  if  they  had  not  so  chosen,  the  village  church 
would  doubtless  have  insisted  upon  it.  The  inevitable 
consequences  followed.  The  minister  who  came  to 
preach  on  Sunday  was  in  effect  a  stranger.  Espe- 
cially was  he  almost  entirely  outside  the  life  of  the 
young.  He  could  have  little  share  in  the  neighbor- 
hood life.  Nor,  if  the  truth  must  be  told,  was  he 
as  a  rule  the  sort  of  man  who  could  have  taken  de- 
cided leadership  even  if  living  in  the  community, 
being  too  academic  and  not  human  enough. 

4.  In  like  way  the  experience  of  this  country  parish 
corroborates  all  that  is  said  about  the  church  as  a 
community  center.  There  was  not  much  definite  pur- 
pose to  make  it  such.  But,  because  there  was  no 
other  place  to  meet,  the  debating  club  met  in  the  church 
building,  the  singing  school  was  held  there,  the  social 
gatherings  were  largely  there.  Even  the  Sunday 
services  had  a  community  quality  as  affording  the 
only  time  when  people  had  opportunity  to  talk  over 
crops,  taxes,  school  interests,  and  politics.  Even 
these  small  community  services  were  a  great  blessing 
both  to  the  people  around  and  reciprocally  to  the 
church. 

But  it  is  easy  to  see,  looking  back  upon  the  situa- 
tion, what  boundless  possibilities  in  this  line  lay 
within  easy  reach  of  that  church.  Under  competent, 
broad-visioned  leadership,  with  the  ample  materials 
available,  it  could  have  shaped  the  entire  community 
life.  Particularly  in  the  educational  field  it  touched 
only  the  fringe  of  its  possibilities.     In  sex  hygiene, 


THE  LARGER  BENZONIA  PARISH  97 

in  ideals  of  life-work,  in  acquaintance  with  great  char- 
acters, in  civic  patriotism,  and  in  manners  as  well  as 
in  personal  morals  and  personal  religion,  it  could  have 
shaped  lives  intrusted  to  it. 

5.  Last  of  all,  this  church  has  illustrated  in  the 
most  complete  and  painful  way  what  happens  to  the 
rural  church  or  any  other  church  which  does  not  build 
its  life  on  a  broad  democratic  basis.  When  the  young 
people  began  to  go  to  the  cities  and  the  old  people  to 
retire  to  the  villages  for  their  last  years,  the  farms 
were  taken  by  families  of  various  races  and  faiths. 
Before  long  the  old  supporters  were  all  gone.  It 
would  have  been  a  task  sufficiently  hard  to  keep  the 
church  going  even  if  its  history  had  been  of  the  wisest. 
But,  lacking  hold  upon  the  community  at  large,  never 
having  taught  all  the  people  to  count  it  their  church, 
it  dwindled  rapidly,  and  years  ago  its  doors  were 
closed.  Of  late  some  signs  of  hope  have  appeared. 
Services  are  held  more  or  less  regularly.  But  it  is 
the  mere  ghost  of  its  former  self.  Whether  it  can 
ever  become  what  once  it  was  so  near  being  future 
years  must  tell. 


THE  LARGER  BENZONIA  PARISH 

Harlow  S.  Mills 

I  suppose  I  am  asked  to  speak  to-night  because  I 
represent  a  vigorous  country  church  in  the  as  yet  but 


98  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

partially  developed  region  of  northern  Michigan.  We 
call  it  "  The  Larger  Benzonia  Parish  "  because  of  its 
more  recently  extended  territory.  It  is  a  kind  of  an 
**  experiment  station  "  where  we  are  working  out  and 
demonstrating  a  method  of  country  evangelization  and 
rural  betterment  which  promises  to  be  successful,  and 
which  we  hope  may  be  profitably  applied  in  many 
parts  of  the  land. 

The  conditions  of  the  Benzonia  field  were  specially 
favorable  for  such  an  experiment.  The  community 
was  settled  by  a  high-minded  and  earnest-hearted 
company  of  people  from  northern  Ohio  more  than 
half  a  century  ago.  The  Pilgrims  did  not  bring  to 
the  New  England  coast  a  truer  motive  or  a  purer  pur- 
pose than  they.  It  was  their  object  to  plant  in  the 
northern  Michigan  wilderness  Christian  institutions. 
They  were  willing  to  put  into  the  enterprise  their 
lives  and  their  fortunes.  They  stamped  the  com- 
munity which  they  founded  with  the  impress  of  their 
ideals,  and  that  stamp  has  persisted.  Like  Abraham, 
their  first  work  after  entering  the  promised  land  was 
to  build  an  altar  to  Jehovah,  and  like  him  and  their 
New  England  ancestors,  they  built  it  on  the  highest 
elevation  they  could  find.  One  of  the  first  things  they 
did  was  to  select  a  site  for  a  church  and  school,  and, 
standing  under  the  tall  beeches  and  maples,  with  hymn 
and  prayer,  to  dedicate  that  high  hilltop  to  the  cause 
of  Christian  education.  The  church  that  they  planted 
was  the  first  in  all  the  Grand  Traverse  region.  It  has 
now  a  membership  of  about  three  hundred  in  a  village 
of  seven  hundred,  and  is  the  center  of  the  religious 


THE  LARGER  BENZONIA  PARISH  99 

and  social  life,  not  only  of  the  village  and  the  immedi- 
ate community,  but  also  of  the  territory  known  as 
"  The  Larger  Parish  " — twelve  miles  long  and  ten 
miles  wide.  It  has  been  the  mother  of  churches,  and 
now  stands  encircled  by  a  number  of  younger  organ- 
izations which  are  growing  strong  and  sturdy  under 
her  cherishing  influence. 

For  more  than  fifty  years  this  church  has  had  the 
central  place  in  that  community.  The  village  life  has 
clustered  about  it,  and  from  it  have  gone  forth  those 
influences  that  have  been  most  potent  in  molding  the 
character  of  the  people,  and  in  giving  them  their  ideals. 
A  fine  body  of  Christian  men  and  women  have  been 
trained  up,  sturdy  and  strong,  with  well-grounded 
principles  and  large  ideas,  and  to  them  more  than  to 
anything  else  is  due  the  work  which  has  been  done. 
They  are  splendid  followers,  they  work  well  together, 
and  are  ready  to  cooperate  in  any  sane  movement  to 
promote  the  kingdom  of  God. 

For  fifteen  years  I  worked  away  in  this,  my  country 
parish.  They  were  happy  years  of  glad,  harmonious 
work,  and  I  was  satisfied  with  my  work.  Though 
remote  from  the  great  centers  of  population  and  liv- 
ing in  a  small  village  with  people  of  very  modest 
means,  I  had  never  been  visited  by  that  restless  feel- 
ing that  spoils  the  peace  and  mars  the  work  of  so 
many  ministers.  There  was  a  good  understanding  be- 
tween myself  and  my  people. 

At  the  close  of  this  period,  however,  I  was  called 
to  pass  through  deep  afliiction.  My  home  was  broken 
up  with  a  sudden  stroke.     Into  the  dark  valley  of 


100  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

sorrow  my  people  accompanied  me  as  far  as  they 
were  able  to  go,  and  the  effect  was  to  unite  us  with 
bonds  that  were  very  strong  and  tender.  Every  home 
in  all  the  parish  was  mine.  All  the  children  belonged 
to  me.  There  was  a  chair  for  me  at  every  fireside, 
and  a  plate  at  every  table. 

But  as  the  years  went  by  there  came  some  tempting 
opportunities  to  engage  in  work  elsewhere.  I  was  not 
without  my  ambitions  and  aspirations.  I  wanted  to 
fill  out  the  full  measure  of  my  ability  and  do  my  best 
work;  and  when  some  opportunities  came  that  made 
the  little  country  parish  seem  by  comparison  rather 
small  and  meager,  I  was  not  proof  against  them.  I 
spent  some  weeks  in  considering  the  propositions 
from  the  city  and  the  state,  and  finally  refused  them. 
I  could  not  bring  myself  to  sever  my  connection  with 
those  to  whom  I  had  been  so  long  and  closely  related. 
The  personal  tie  was  too  strong,  and  I  decided  to 
remain  with  my  people. 

With  the  decision  came  a  thorough  heart-searching. 
It  marked  a  turning-point  in  my  spiritual  history.  I 
was  impressed  with  the  thought  that,  if  it  was  God's 
will  that  I  should  remain  in  my  present  work,  it  must 
be  for  a  special  purpose.  Things  could  not  be  in  the 
future  as  they  had  been  in  the  past.  If  it  was  the 
Lord's  will  that  I  should  remain  in  that  country 
parish,  there  must  be  some  work  there  which  it  was 
worth  while  for  me  to  do;  some  work  that  in  some 
degree,  at  least,  would  approach  in  importance  the 
large  opportunities  offered  by  the  city  and  the  state. 
Was  there  anything  to  be  done  among  those  hills  and 


THE  LARGER  BENZONIA  PARISH  loi 

in  those  rapidly  disappearing  forests  that  could  fire  a 
man's  ambitions  and  satisfy  his  high  aspirations? 

Just  here  the  vision  came.  At  first  a  whole  town- 
ship was  revealed  as  a  possible  parish.  Then  the  vision 
expanded  until  it  took  in  another  township  and  parts 
of  three  or  four  more.  It  became  plain  that  almost 
half  a  county  was  tributary  to  the  church,  that  five 
hundred  families  and  twenty-five  hundred  people  were 
waiting  for  its  ministry.  It  dawned  upon  my  mental 
vision  that  I  was  called  upon  to  be  the  pastor  of  all 
these  people,  and  that  the  Benzonia  Church  was  re- 
sponsible for  them  all;  that  they  had  a  right  to-  look 
to  us  for  service  and  help,  and  that  if  we  failed  to 
give  it  we  should  be  unfaithful  to  our  Master  and 
recreant  to  our  trust.  Then  I  said,  "  Here  is  some- 
thing worth  doing.  Here  may  be  wrought  out  an 
experiment  in  country  evangelization  and  rural  better- 
ment that  may  help  to  arrest  the  downward  trend  that 
has  become  so  alarming  in  these  days.  It  was  for 
this  that  God  kept  me  here.  If  I  can  make  this  vision 
a  reality,  I  need  not  pine  for  a  larger  field.  If  I  can 
help  others  to  see  the  vision,  and  inspire  them  with 
enthusiasm  to  make  it  real  in  larger  fields  than  mine, 
I  shall  never  be  sorry  that  I  stayed  by  the  stuff." 

The  church  had  for  many  years  been  much  inter- 
ested in  both  home  and  foreign  missions.  In  fact 
those  who  were  well  acquainted  with  the  churches  of 
the  state  have  often  said  that  in  proportion  to  its  re- 
sources, its  gifts  were  larger  than  those  of  any  other 
church.  Not  only  did  its  members  give  money,  but 
they  gave  their  own  sons  and  daughters  to  carry  the 


102  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

gospel  to  less  favored  regions.  Many  of  the  young 
women  of  the  church  had  gone  to  teach  in  home 
mission  schools,  and  there  came  a  day  when  my  fa- 
vorite niece,  brought  up  in  my  home  as  an  active  and 
useful  member  of  the  church,  beloved  by  all,  was  con- 
secrated with  solemn  services  in  the  little  church  on 
the  hilltop  to  the  foreign  work,  and  was  sent  forth 
with  the  prayers  and  blessings  of  all  the  people  to 
represent  them  among  the  awakening  millions  of 
China. 

As  I  was  sitting  in  my  study  one  day,  pondering 
upon  these  things,  the  absurdity  of  the  situation  came 
over  me  all  at  once.  "  Here  we  are,  gathering  money 
to  send  our  sons  and  daughters  to  the  distant  parts  of 
the  earth,  but  we  are  doing  absolutely  nothing  for 
scores  of  families  almost  within  sound  of  our  church 
bell.  We  are  anxious  to  give  the  gospel  to  the  mil- 
lions of  other  lands  whom  we  have  never  seen,  and 
never  shall  see;  but  we  have  not  felt  very  much  re- 
sponsibility for  those  who  are  separated  from  us  by 
only  a  few  miles.  There  are  many  families  and  hun- 
dreds of  people  within  five  or  six  miles  of  our  church 
that  are  practically  without  the  gospel  as  truly  as  are 
the  Chinese  or  the  South  Sea  islanders.  We  have 
made  no  systematic  effort  to  interest  them  in  these 
things."  Then  I  heard  the  Master  say:  "These  ye 
ought  to  have  done,  and  not  to  have  left  the  other 
undone."  And  then  came  the  vision  of  the  Larger 
Parish.  I  saw  the  church  reaching  out  and  touching 
tenderly,  but  effectively,  all  the  people  in  the  sur- 
rounding country.     I  saw  every  family  in  that  wide 


THE  LARGER  BENZONIA  PARISH  103 

region  tributary  to  the  church.  I  saw  the  church 
laying  systematic  plans  to  carry  the  gospel  to  all 
these  outlying  neighborhoods.  I  began  to  think  of  all 
those  people  as  my  parishioners  as  truly  as  were  those 
who  lived  near  the  church  and  who  were  members  of 
it.  In  my  own  mind  I  annexed  all  the  surrounding 
country  and  began  to  make  plans  for  the  evangeliza- 
tion and  helping  of  all  the  people  who  dwelt  therein. 
So  under  the  stimulus  of  foreign  missions  the  vision 
came  of  the  work  that  could  be  done  and  should  be 
done  nearer  home. 

The  next  thing  was  to  bring  the  vision  to  the  earth 
and  to  make  it  a  reality.     How  was  it  to  be  done? 

The  first  thing  was  to  make  a  survey  of  the  field. 
I  started  out  to  visit  all  the  families  in  this  wide  terri- 
tory. I  tramped  over  the  whole  parish.  I  lived  with 
the  people  and  was  often  absent  from  my  home  for 
two  or  three  days  at  a  time,  until  there  was  scarcely 
a  home  in  all  that  region  where  I  was  a  stranger. 
This  was  most  delightful  and  satisfying  work.  There 
Vv^as  a  welcome  everywhere,  and,  almost  without  ex- 
ception the  people  seemed  pleased  to  come  in  touch 
with  the  representative  of  the  church.  Such  an  op- 
portunity to  get  up  close  to  the  people  is  worth  a  score 
of  sermons.  This  visiting  tour  occupied  many  weeks; 
in  fact,  a  large  part  of  the  autumn  months  I  spent 
in  this  way.  I  came  to  know  the  people  as  I  had  never 
known  them  before.  My  touch  with  them  was  warmer 
and  closer.  I  came  to  think  of  them  in  a  different 
way,  and  there  was  established  between  them  and  my- 
self a  bond  of  sympathy  that  did  not  exist  before. 


104  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

My  task  with  the  church  in  bringing  it  to  get  my 
point  of  view,  to  see  the  vision  as  I  saw  it  and  to 
cooperate  with  me  in  making  it  a  reaHty,  was  not  dif- 
ficult. The  people  were  ready  for  the  larger  work, — 
at  least  they  were  ready  to  be  made  ready. 

All  they  needed  was  light  and  leading.  This  I  un- 
dertook to  give.  I  told  them  my  vision  of  the  Larger 
Parish.  I  held  it  up  before  them  continually,  preach- 
ing it  on  the  Sabbath,  and  talking  about  it  in  the 
prayer-meeting.  From  week  to  week  I  could  see  the 
kindling  flame  of  enthusiasm  in  the  congregation. 
The  people  began  to  see  the  reasonableness  of  it. 
They  began  to  feel  some  responsibility  for  it,  some 
joy  and  hope,  as  the  possibility  of  doing  it  dawned 
upon  them. 

But  how  should  we  begin?  How  should  we  move 
out  into  this  Larger  Parish,  and  get  hold  of  this 
greater  work?  I  began  to  hold  one  meeting  each 
week  in  some  distant  schoolhouse,  taking  with  me 
some  of  my  men,  for  I  considered  that  the  success  of 
the  work  depended,  not  so  much  on  what  I  said,  as 
upon  the  attitude  of  the  church  toward  it.  The  pres- 
ence of  the  men  with  me  in  these  services  greatly  in- 
creased the  effectiveness  of  the  effort.  I  was  a 
preacher,  and  was  simply  on  my  job.  They  repre- 
sented the  church  and  proclaimed  to  the  people  in  the 
outlying  regions  its  attitude  toward  them. 

At  first  I  had  no  definite  thought  of  how  the  work 
would  develop.  I  simply  started  out  to  do  what  I 
could  for  the  people  in  that  wide  territory.  The  need 
of  a  helper  began  to  press  heavily  upon  me.     The 


THE  LARGER  BENZONIA  PARISH  105 

matter  was  brought  before  the  representatives  of  the 
state  work.  The  superintendent  came  and  visited  the 
field,  and  the  result  was  such  cooperation  with  the 
Home  Missionary  Society  as  enabled  us  to  secure  an 
assistant  for  our  work.  And  as  it  developed,  it  was 
not  long  till  another  helper  was  needed,  so  that  now 
the  work  is  carried  on  by  three  men,  each  of  them 
responsible  for  a  certain  portion  of  the  territory. 
They  work  in  most  delightful  harmony,  and  the  fel- 
lowship which  they  have  with  one  another  is  one  of 
the  best  things  about  it. 

A  fine  example  of  what  may  be  done  in  the  way  of 
denominational  comity,  when  a  really  Christian  spirit 
prevails,  was  shown  on  this  field,  and  it  did  much  to 
make  the  work  of  the  Larger  Parish  possible.  Two 
small  Methodist  churches  within  the  territory  men- 
tioned were  exchanged  for  two  Congregational 
churches  of  a  similar  grade  in  an  adjoining  county. 
This  was  worked  through  by  the  representatives  of 
the  two  denominations,  and  with  the  churches  them- 
selves without  difficulty,  leaving  a  free  field  for  the 
Congregationalists  in  one  county,  and  for  the  Metho- 
dists in  the  other.  A  commission  was  appointed  con- 
sisting of  a  Methodist  and  a  Congregationalist  from 
a  distant  town,  who  appraised  the  properties  belong- 
ing to  the  various  churches  and  reported  the  basis  of 
exchange.  The  Methodist  man  thought  the  Congre- 
gationalists ought  to  pay  $250  to  boot.  The  Congre- 
gational man  thought  the  Methodists  ought  to  pay  a 
like  sum.  So  they  traded  even,  and  every  one  was 
satisfied.     If  some  such  exchange  could  be  made  in 


io6  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

many  country  neighborhoods,  it  would  be  a  most 
happy  arrangement,  and  one  of  the  greatest  hindrances 
to  the  progress  of  the  kingdom  of  God  would  be 
removed. 

Having  shown  the  plan  in  successful  operation,  I 
may  speak  of  some  methods  used  and  some  things 
done  which  show  religious  progress.  This  must  be 
the  crucial  test  of  any  church  work.  It  must  bring 
people  into  harmony  with  God  and  his  truth.  It  must 
line  them  up  on  the  side  of  Jesus  Christ,  or  it  cannot 
be  said  to  be  successful,  however  many  other  desirable 
things  it  may  accomplish.  Spiritual  results  cannot  be 
tabulated,  but  a  few  things  can  be  mentioned  that 
show  progress. 

The  work  has  been  fairly  well  organized  through- 
out the  whole  parish,  and  is  moving  on  steadily  in 
definite  directions. 

There  are  now  eleven  points  where  regular  Sunday 
services  are  held  in  this  territory,  which  comprises  one 
whole  township  and  parts  of  five  others.  These 
services  are  held  in  one  church,  eight  chapels,  and  two 
schoolhouses.  Other  points  are  asking  for  service,  but 
with  our  present  force  no  more  work  can  be  under- 
taken. These  preaching  points  are  so  arranged  that 
no  family  with  the  exception  of  a  few  who  live  in  one 
remote  comer  of  the  parish,  need  go  more  than  a  mile 
and  a  half  to  find  a  place  of  worship.  The  aggregate 
attendance  on  these  services  will  average  not  far  from 
six  hundred  in  a  population  of  twenty-five  hundred, — 
about  one  fourth  of  the  population  of  the  parish  being 
present  with  some  degree  of  regularity.     There  are 


THE  LARGER  BENZONIA  PARISH  107 

three  small  country  churches  affiliated  with  the  village 
church  at  Benzonia  in  carrying  on  this  work,  with  a 
combined  membership  of  about  four  hundred.  Ten 
Sunday-schools  are  maintained  within  the  parish  with 
six  hundred  in  attendance.  The  clerical  force  is  com- 
posed of  the  pastor  and  his  two  assistants,  and  each 
of  them  preaches  three  times  on  the  Sabbath,  so  that 
there  are  nine  preaching  services.  The  three  pastors 
usually  get  together  on  Monday  and  talk  over  the 
work,  spending  part  of  the  day  in  the  most  delightful 
fellowship.  They  make  frequent  exchanges,  taking 
each  other's  work  for  a  Sunday  and  thus  giving  the 
people  a  change,  and  themselves  some  variety  of  ex- 
perience. In  this  way  they  promote  acquaintance  and 
fellowship  throughout  the  whole  parish.  This  is  a 
most  profitable  combination.  The  older  pastor  helps 
the  younger  men  with  his  wider  experience,  and  the 
boys  put  new  life  and  fresh  spirit  into  the  heart  of  the 
older  man. 

If  the  amount  of  money  which  people  are  willing 
to  give  for  religious  purposes  is  an  index  of  their 
interest  in  the  Kingdom,  one  must  conclude  that  there 
has  been  a  very  significant  revival  in  that  respect 
throughout  the  Larger  Parish.  More  means  for  carry- 
ing on  the  work  are  now  in  sight  than  one  would 
have  supposed  it  possible  to  raise  five  years  ago. 
The  total  salary  of  the  pastor  and  his  two  assistants 
is  two  and  a  half  times  the  pastor's  salary  alone 
before  the  wider  work  was  undertaken.  This,  how- 
ever, is  made  possible  only  through  the  help  of  the 
Home  Missionary  Society.    The  contributions  to  home 


io8  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

and  foreign  missions  have  more  than  doubled  in  this 
period,  and  the  number  of  contributors  has  increased 
twofold.  More  than  twice  as  much  money  is  raised 
on  the  whole  field  now  than  was  the  case  before  the 
wider  work  began,  and  it  comes  with  just  as  little 
effort.  Nobody  now  objects  to  the  work  on  financial 
ground.     It  has  paid  for  itself  in  every  way. 

Two  or  three  times  a  year  all  the  services  in  the 
out-stations  are  omitted,  and  all  the  people  are  invited 
to  come  together  for  a  Sabbath  service  on  the  seminary 
campus  at  Benzonia.  These  are  most  enjoyable  and 
profitable  occasions.  They  assemble  under  the  great 
beech  and  maple  trees,  a  sermon  is  preached  by  some 
noted  minister  from  abroad,  there  is  a  picnic  dinner 
with  time  for  sociability  and  fellowship,  and  then  in 
the  afternoon  another  service  of  a  more  varied  char- 
acter. These  general  services  are  well  attended,  and 
they  tend  to  bind  the  whole  parish  together  with  a 
larger  sense  of  community  interest. 

Believing  that  the  church  should  minister  to  the 
whole  man  and  have  something  to  say  and  something 
to  do  with  his  social  as  well  as  his  spiritual  nature, 
we  have  paid  considerable  attention  to  some  things 
that  have  often  been  considered  as  lying  outside  of  the 
sphere  of  religion.  Realizing  the  tendency  of  country 
life  to  isolation  and  extreme  individualism,  and  the 
danger  of  its  becoming  barren  and  monotonous,  we 
have  thought  it  important  to  provide  for  social  and 
literary  functions,  and  for  wholesome  recreation  and 
healthful  pleasures.  It  has  been  our  effort  to  make  all 
our  out-stations  social  centers,  and  to  encourage  fre- 


THE  LARGER  BENZONIA  PARISH  109 

quent  meetings  where  the  people  might  mingle  in  a 
free  and  friendly  manner.  They  have  responded 
heartily  to  these  efforts  and  have  appreciated  very 
much  the  opportunities  that  have  been  afforded  them 
in  this  direction. 

Neighborhood  clubs  have  been  organized  in  some  of 
the  out-stations  whose  function  it  is  to  provide  for 
these  social  necessities.  The  name  "  Neighborhood 
Club  "  quite  well  defines  their  object.  The  work  is 
carried  on  in  three  departments  under  the  direction 
of  three  committees :  ( i )  the  Social  Committee,  whose 
business  it  is  to  arrange  for  picnics,  parties,  excur- 
sions, etc.;  (2)  the  Literary  Committee,  which  pro- 
vides lectures,  debates,  and  the  like;  and  (3)  the  Team 
Work  Committee,  which  leads  out  in  any  movement  of 
a  public  or  a  charitable  nature  in  which  the  people 
need  to  cooperate.  The  meetings  of  these  clubs  are 
well  attended  and  they  are  a  profitable  source  of  im- 
provement and  recreation. 

Lecture  courses  are  arranged,  usually  by  home  tal- 
ent, and  upon  subjects  of  local  and  practical  interest. 
The  pastor  has  done  a  good  deal  of  work  wnth  the 
stereopticon,  illustrating  the  story  of  a  trip  to  Pales- 
tine and  a  cruise  of  the  Mediterranean.  These  clubs 
soon  develop  talent  and  resources  of  various  kinds 
which  are  quite  sufficient,  and  they  require  but  little 
help  from  the  outside. 

Some  attention  has  been  paid  to  athletics.  The 
young  men  have  been  organized  into  athletic  clubs,  and 
they  have  been  headed  up  in  an  athletic  league.  They 
hold  occasional  field  days,  with  sports  and  contests  for 


no     THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

the  boys  and  girls.  This  we  find  is  very  profitable 
when  we  have  some  one  who  has  the  training  and  the 
other  qualifications  of  a  suitable  director. 

One  more  way  of  working  has  also  proved  valuable 
and  well  worth  while.  Like  most  small  villages,  we 
have  a  weekly  newspaper  which  finds  its  way  into 
most  of  the  homes  of  the  parish.  The  pastor  and 
the  editor  work  together  in  the  effort  to  make  it  an 
organ  of  helpful  power  in  the  community  life.  For 
five  years  I  have  had  a  column,  usually  a  column  and 
a  half,  in  this  paper  each  week.  It  is  my  regular 
Monday  forenoon  work  to  write  "  The  Pastor's  Col- 
umn." I  put  into  it  whatever  I  think  will  be  useful 
to  the  people,  bringing  them  many  a  message  that 
would  hardly  come  appropriately  in  the  pulpit,  and 
reaching  in  that  way  many  whom  I  should  not  often 
come  in  touch  with  otherwise.  The  themes  are  vari- 
ous, but  a  few  will  serve  as  specimens :  ''  How  to 
Keep  One's  Religion  and  Make  It  Pay  " ;  "  The  Back 
Yard";  "The  Test  of  the  Summer  Time";  ''The 
Man  You  Happen  to  Meet  ";  "  Plan  Your  Work,  and 
Work  Your  Plan,"  etc.  Any  local  topic  of  general 
interest  is  taken  up  and  discussed,  and  the  activities  of 
the  church  and  the  social  and  literary  doings  in  the 
various  out-stations  are  kept  before  the  people.  I  con- 
sider this  one  of  my  most  valuable  ways  of  working, 
and  I  find  that  The  Pastor's  Column  is  eagerly  looked 
for  and  widely  read.  This  suggests  the  question 
whether  in  the  past  the  pastors  of  our  churches  have 
sufficiently  appreciated  the  value  of  printer's  ink  as 
an  adjunct  in  carrying  on  religious  and  community 


THE  LARGER  BENZONIA  PARISH  in 

work.  If  the  pastor  can  speak  through  the  press  as 
well  as  from  the  pulpit,  he  is  doubling  his  influence. 
What  do  we  find  to  be  the  result  of  the  five  years' 
work  of  the  Larger  Parish  ?  They  have  been  the  five 
most  prosperous  years  of  the  church's  history  of  more 
than  half  a  century.  Two  men  have  been  added  to 
the  clerical  force.  The  expenses  of  the  church  have 
been  met,  and  the  bills  have  been  paid  when  due.  The 
contributions  for  home  and  foreign  missions  have 
more  than  doubled.  More  members  have  been  received 
than  during  any  other  similar  period.  There  has  been 
perfect  harmony,  and  the  people  have  been  glad  and 
happy  in  their  common  work.  Ten  places  of  worship 
have  been  established  in  the  country  around  where 
regular  services  are  held.  The  people  in  these  neigh- 
borhoods attend  their  own  services,  and  do  not  come 
to  the  central  church  as  many  of  them  formerly  did. 
The  present  arrangement  does  not  tend  to  build  up  a 
large  central  congregation,  but  has  the  opposite  effect. 
Thirty  former  central  members  have  become  part  of  a 
newly  formed  church  three  miles  away.  There  has 
been  no  great  increase  in  the  population,  either  of  the 
village,  or  of  the  country  around.  But  the  congrega- 
tion and  Sunday-school  of  the  central  church  were 
never  so  large  as  they  have  been  during  this  period. 
It  has  been  found  impossible  to  accommodate  all  those 
who  wish  to  worship  in  the  church,  or  properly  to 
care  for  those  attending  the  Sunday-school.  A  larger 
building  became  an  actual  necessity,  and  in  the  summer 
of  19 1 3  an  addition  was  made,  increasing  the  seating 
capacity  more  than  one  third  and  providing  a  number 


112  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

of  rooms  for  Sunday-school  and  social  purposes.  The 
building  has  been  painted,  reshingled,  and  thoroughly 
renovated;  everything  about  is  in  good  shape,  and  it 
has  all  been  paid  for.  The  congregations  fill  the 
larger  building  as  well  as  they  did  before  the  addition 
was  made.  Can  we  doubt  that  the  blessing  of  God 
will  attend  any  church  that  sees  the  vision,  and  with 
faith  and  courage  and  sacrifice  gives  itself  to  the  work 
of  making  it  a  reality? 

I  believe  we  are  beginning  to  see  the  dawning  of 
a  better  day  for  the  rural  regions;  that  the  fountains 
of  physical,  moral,  and  religious  strength  which  have 
seemed  to  be  failing  in  these  latter  days  are  about  to 
be  "  reopened,'*  and  that  we  may  soon  expect  to  see 
them  flowing  with  new  force  and  volume  to  refresh 
the  earth.  Perhaps  there  is  no  movement  just  at  pres- 
ent that  is  more  vitally  related  to  the  progress  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  in  the  world.  God  grant  that  the 
fair  and  blessed  vision  may  dawn  upon  every  heart, 
that  the  village  churches  may  see  their  opportunity, 
and  that  the  work  of  rehabilitation  may  proceed  at  a 
rapid  pace  in  the  years  that  are  just  before  us ! 


FUNCTION,  POLICY,  AND  PROGRAM  113 

THE  FUNCTION,  POLICY,  AND  PROGRAM 
OF  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH 

{Report  of  Committee) 

Kenyon  L.  Butterfield^  Chairman,  Jessie  Field, 
G.  Walter  Fiske,  Charles  O.  Gill,  Albert  E. 
Roberts,  Henry  Wallace. 

Your  Committee  began  its  study  on  the  assumption 
that  there  were  three  aspects  of  the  work  of  the  coun- 
try church  that  needed  stating : 

1.  A  definition  of  the  function  of  the  country 
church,  in  order  to  gain  if  possible  a  clear  notion  of 
what  the  fundamental  work  of  the  church  is,  particu- 
larly in  relation  to  the  work  of  other  social  institutions. 

2.  An  outline  of  a  general  policy  for  the  country 
church  as  a  whole,  in  trying  to  carry  out  its  function. 

3.  A  suggestive  program,  embodying  many  con- 
crete plans  and  suggestions  for  the  work  of  the  local 
church,  appropriate  to  the  carrying  out  of  the  general 
policy. 

A  preliminary  statement  was  prepared  by  the  com- 
mittee, giving  a  definition  of  function,  an  outline  of  a 
country  church  policy,  and  a  program  of  detailed  work 
for  the  local  church.  This  statement  was  sent  to  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  leading  men  in  country  life  work, 
including  pastors,  country  church  organization  officials, 
and  professors  in  colleges  and  theological  seminaries. 
Nearly  a  hundred  replies  were  received.  A  few  pre- 
sented excuses  for  failure  to  answer;  others  expressed 
approval  without  criticism  or  suggestion.     The  com- 


114  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

munications  more  or  less  extended  that  were  critical 
or  suggestive  numbered  nearly  seventy.  Some  of  these 
were  very  full,  and  indeed  so  suggestive  and  important 
are  they  that  your  committee  is  fully  warranted  in 
saying  that  it  is  doubtful  if  there  is  any  other  collection 
of  opinions  about  the  country  church  so  valuable  as 
those  contained  in  these  seventy  replies.  The  general 
attitude  in  these  replies  is  most  appreciative  of  the 
purpose  sought,  while  it  is  critical  only  of  forms  of 
statement. 

The  committee  secured  the  invaluable  service  of  Dr. 
Wilbert  L.  Anderson,  author  of  The  Country  Town, 
to  edit  this  important  material.  Dr.  Anderson's 
sudden  death  last  spring  deprived  us  of  his  final  edit- 
ing, but  fortunately,  a  few  days  before  his  death  he 
had  completed  the  first  draft  of  his  study  of  these 
replies,  and  had  formulated  new  statements  in  the 
light  of  his  study.  Your  committee  has  considered 
this  material  carefully,  and  while  rearranging  Dr.  An- 
derson's edition  of  the  statement,  has  made  little 
change  in  the  substance. 

It  is  agreed  by  your  committee  that  some  such  state- 
ment as  this  should  be  made  after  thorough  study  by 
the  Commission  on  Church  and  Country  Life  of  the 
Federal  Council,  and  promulgated  with  their  approval, 
together  with  a  plan  for  revivifying  the  American 
country  church  and  of  assisting  to  organize  its  work 
on  broad  but  vital  lines. 

It  is  recommended  by  your  committee  that  this  state- 
ment be  carefully  studied  by  the  whole  Commission, 
and  that  it  be  not  published  until  it  has  the  practically 


FUNCTION,  POLICY,  AND  PROGRAM  115 

unanimous  approval  of  the  Commission,  but  that,  when 
published,  it  be  sent  if  possible  to  every  country  church 
in  America,  accompanied  not  only  by  a  letter  from  this 
Commission  expressing  the  hope  that  it  may  be  used 
as  a  basis  for  discussion  of  plans  for  a  forward  move- 
ment, but  that  it  may  also  be  accompanied  by  official 
communications  from  authoritative  church  bodies, 
urging  action  and  outlining  plans  for  carrying  out  a 
definite  country  church  campaign. 

The  Function  of  the  Country  Church 

God's  great  purpose  for  men  is  the  highest  possible 
development  of  each  personality  and  of  the  human 
race  as  a  whole.  It  is  essential  to  this  growth  that 
men  shall  hold  adequate  ideals  of  character  and  life. 
The  Christian  believes  that  these  ideals  must  spring 
from  a  clear  appreciation  of  God's  purpose,  and  from 
a  consuming  desire  to  reproduce  the  spirit  and  life  of 
Jesus. 

Therefore,  the  function  of  the  country  church  is  to 
create,  to  maintain,  and  to  enlarge  both  individual 
and  community  ideals,  under  the  inspiration  and  guid- 
ance of  the  Christian  motive  and  teaching,  and  to  help 
rural  people  to  incarnate  these  ideals  in  personal  and 
family  life,  in  industrial  effort,  in  political  develop- 
ment, and  in  all  social  relationships. 

The  church  must  bring  men  to  God,  and  at  the 
same  time  must  lead  in  the  task  of  building  God's 
kingdom  on  earth. 

The  mission  of  the  Christian  church  is  that  of  its 
Founder:  To  teach  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the 


ii6  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

brotherhood  of  man  as  the  ideal  of  life  for  the  indi- 
vidual, the  family,  the  community,  and  the  nation,  and 
to  point  out  the  best  way  to  make  the  ideal  the  actual. 

The  Work  of  the  Country  Church 

The  Committee  has  divided  the  work  of  the  country 
church  into  the  following  heads : 

1.  Knowledge. 

2.  Preaching  and  worship. 

3.  Religious  education. 

4.  The  church  ministering  to  all  the  people. 

5.  The  church,  the  servant  of  the  community. 

6.  Cooperation  among  the  churches. 

7.  Division  of  labor. 

8.  Administration  and  finance. 

9.  The  preacher  and  his  helpers. 

ID.    The  preacher,  a  community  builder. 
1 1 .    The  country  church  circuit. 
Under  each  one  of  these  heads  there  is : 

1.  A  statement  of  general  policy: 

Intended  to  apply  to  the  church  as  a  whole,  or  to 
any  church.  This  policy  is  expected  to  be  broad 
enough  on  the  one  hand  to  make  the  church  *'  func- 
tion," and  on  the  other  hand  practical  enough  to  serve 
as  a  guide  for  local  church  work. 

2.  A  program  for  the  local  church : 

This  is  by  no  means  complete,  but  is  a  list  of  specific 
things  that  might  be  done  by  the  local  church.  Prob- 
ably no  one  church  will  do  all  of  them,  but  every 
church  can  do  some  of  them.  Each  church  should 
adapt  its  program  to  its  own  needs  and  conditions. 


FUNCTION,  POLICY,  AND  PROGRAM  117 

but  should  always  test  the  program  in  the  light  of 
a  broad  policy. 

3.    Suggestions  and  examples: 

Under  this  head  there  is  given  a  list  of  practical 
helps,  either  indicating  literature  or  mentioning  actual 
instances  that  show  the  practicability  of  many  of  the 
items  in  the  suggested  program. 

I.    Knowledge 

POLICY 

( 1 )  Country  church  leaders,  both  preachers  and  lay- 
men, should  have  a  clear  view  of  the  fundamental  as- 
pects of  the  rural  problem,  and  should  broadly  define 
the  relationship  of  the  church  to  that  problem. 

(2)  The  country  church  should  make  a  survey  of  its 
field,  to  discover  neglected  individuals  and  families,  to 
ascertain  the  conditions  which  determine  its  work,  and 
to  learn  what  movements  are  entitled  to  its  guidance, 
interest,  and  support.  Two  or  more  churches  serving 
the  same  community  should  cooperate  in  such  a  survey. 
The  main  results  should  be  made  public,  but  the  rights 
of  privacy  should  be  duly  guarded. 

PROGRAM    FOR   THE   LOCAL    CHURCH 

(i)  a.  Put  books,  bulletins,  and  magazines  on 
country  life  into  public  libraries  and  church  libraries. 

(See  lists  furnished  by  Rural  Department  of  Y.  M. 
C.  A.) 

h.  Import  lecturers  on  country  life  from  the  agri- 
cultural colleges,  church  societies,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  etc. 

c.    Have  speakers  on  the  subject  of  the  rural  prob- 


ii8  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

lem,  at  church  conventions,  conventions  of  young 
people's  societies,  etc. 

d.  Hold  county  or  district  conferences  of  rural 
preachers  to  study  the  rural  problem. 

(2)  a.  Promote  the  community  survey.  Use  some 
good  standard  survey  such  as  that  furnished  by  the 
Federal  Council,  by  the  Presbyterian  board  (Dr.  Wil- 
son), by  agricultural  colleges. 

b.  Encourage  self-study  by  the  community. 

c.  Chart  results  in  graphic  form  so  that  material 
can  be  preserved  and  also  made  available  for  actual 
use. 

II.    Preaching  and  Worship 

POLICY 

The  country  church  should  foster  private  and  public 
worship  of  God.  Through  its  preaching  it  should 
bring  a  ringing  spiritual  message  to  the  community, 
and  interpret  the  gospel  for  the  uplift  of  motive  and 
the  transformation  and  development  of  character. 

PROGRAM 

1.  Preaching  every  Sunday  in  every  field. 

2.  Emphasis  on  congregational  singing. 

3.  Topics  and  texts  with  rural  setting. 

4.  Religious  use  of  special  days,  like  Harvest  Home, 
Rural  Life  Sundays,  Thanksgiving,  Farm  Mother's 
Day,  Easter, — with  reference  to  rural  environment. 


FUNCTION,  POLICY,  AND  PROGRAM  119 

III.    Religious  Education 

POLICY 

The  country  church  should  develop  definite  means 
of  religious  education,  both  of  adults  and  of  children, 
interpreting  personal  and  social  duty  in  terms  of  rural 
life,  and  applying  what  is  learned  in  actual  social 
service.  To  this  end,  the  pulpit,  the  home,  and  the 
Sunday-school  should  definitely  cooperate. 

PROGRAM 

1.  Graded  Bible  instruction  for  children;  adapted 
to  the  average  country  Sunday-school. 

2.  Instruction  of  adults  through  consecutive  studies 
in  sermonic  material. 

3.  Mid-week  and  monthly  conferences. 

4.  Rural  Bible  study. 

IV.    The  Church  Ministering  to  All  the 
People 

policy 

While  the  country  church  should  minister  to  the  ef- 
ficient and  successful,  to  the  end  that  it  may  hold  the 
community  through  competent  leadership,  it  should 
minister  with  special  zeal  to  the  ineffective,  the  poor, 
and  the  degenerate,  since  they  also  belong  to  Christ. 
The  rapidly  increasing  instability  of  the  rural  popula- 
tion lays  upon  the  church  the  special  duty  of  religious 
and  social  helpfulness  to  the  tenant  farmer  and  the 
hired  man. 


120  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

PROGRAM 

1.  Organize  clubs  within  the  church  for  community 
service  projects;  bring  in  outside  speakers  at  club  din- 
ners, etc.,  to  discuss  community  work. 

2.  Utilize  existing  women's  organizations  for 
larger  and  more  effective  service. 

3.  Encourage  use  of  the  church  building  by  organ- 
izations and  societies. 

4.  Give  public  advocacy  to  various  forms  of  social 
service,  such  as  clean-up  days,  community  picnics,  play 
festivals,  town  improvement.  Arbor  day,  beautifying 
cemetery  or  common,  etc. 

5.  Preach  contentment  with  rural  life  and  ade- 
quacy of  country  as  a  life  investment. 

6.  Make  church  sociables  community  affairs,  if  pos- 
sible, with  all  welcome. 

V.    The  Church  the  Servant  of  the 
Community 

POLICY 

The  country  church  should  regard  itself  as  the 
servant  of  the  entire  community,  and  should  be  deeply 
concerned  with  all  legitimate  agencies  in  the  com- 
munity; it  should  give  them  support  and  promotion  as 
there  may  be  opportunity  or  need.  It  should  suggest 
and  inspire  rather  than  instigate  and  supervise,  but  it 
may  undertake  any  new  service  for  which  there  is  not 
other  provision. 

Cooperation  with  Other  Agencies. — The  church 
should  recognize  a  division  of  functions  in  the  com- 


FUNCTION,  POLICY,  AND  PROGRAM  121 

munity,  and  should  cooperate  with  other  institutions 
and  organizations.  Such  adjustments  are  made  indi- 
vidually for  the  most  part,  but  by  public  advocacy  and 
by  its  educational  methods  the  church  may  exert  its 
collective  influence  for  all  ends  that  may  help  to  up- 
build the  community. 

PROGRAM 

Community  movements  should  be  instigated  or  aided 
by  active  cooperation,  as  the  need  may  be,  for  such 
ends  as  the  following: 

1.  Temperance,  wherever  the  community  is  suffer- 
ing from  intemperance  or  lawlessness;  a  campaign  for 
no-license  or  prohibition;  law  enforcement;  Sabbath 
observance. 

2.  Public  health  and  sanitation. 

3.  Good  roads. 

4.  School  education  for  rural  life,  and  ordinarily 
consolidated  schools. 

5.  Intellectual  development  by  means  of  libraries, 
lectures,  reading  circles,  clubs,  and  similar  agencies. 

6.  Provisions  for  public  recreation,  and  a  Saturday 
half-holiday  for  agricultural  laborers. 

7.  Promotion  of  demonstrations  of  recreation  on 
church  grounds  if  no  better  place  can  be  had. 

8.  Better  farming  and  better  farm  homes,  with 
special  stress  upon  extension  work  of  agricultural 
colleges. 

9.  Beauty  of  village,  roadsides,  and  private 
grounds. 

10.  Celebration  of  religious  and  patriotic  holidays, 


122  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

observance  of  old  home  week,  and  production  of  his- 
torical pageants. 

11.  Education  of  the  people  by  preaching  on  com- 
munity planning. 

12.  Establishment  of  a  supervised  social  center  or 
community  house. 

13.  Local  federation  for  rural  progress  and  other 
community  programs. 

14.  In  general,  promotion  of  cooperation  among 
farmers  in  their  production,  buying,  and  selling. 

VI.    Cooperation  among  the  Churches 

POLICY 

Groups  of  country  churches,  with  natural  and  social 
affiliations,  should  unite  for  the  study  of  their  special 
field  and  for  the  more  effective  use  of  their  resources 
in  meeting  its  needs,  thus  forming  a  church  federa- 
tion. Churches  may  consolidate  where  only  one 
church  is  needed  in  a  community.  In  some  communi- 
ties a  federated  church  may  be  practicable,  an  arrange- 
ment by  which  all  churches  in  a  community  unite  for 
worship  and  work,  but  each  church  society  preserves 
its  corporate  identity. 

PROGRAM 

1.  Union  meetings  for  religious  and  patriotic  pur- 
poses, song  service,  etc. 

2.  Community  projects  for  various  forms  of  com- 
munity welfare,  Christmas  tree,  etc. 

3.  Evangelistic  campaign  on  the  cooperative  basis, 


FUNCTION,  POLICY,  AND  PROGRAM  123 

preceded  by  survey  and  followed  by  effective  organized 
work. 

4.  Union  campaigns  on  moral  issues  like  temper- 
ance. 

5.  Cooperative  surveys. 

6.  Cooperative  boys'  and  girls'  clubs. 

7.  Cooperative  play  festivals. 

8.  Cooperative  community  pageants. 

9.  Cooperation  in  athletic  contests. 

VII.    Division  of  Labor 

POLICY 

Oftentimes  the  greatest  efficiency  of  the  church  re- 
quires specialized  agencies  for  special  tasks.  The  rural 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  the  young  people's  so- 
cieties, and  other  similar  organized  allies  of  the  coun- 
try church  should  therefore  be  utilized  and  encouraged 
where  needed,  and  supported  in  their  work. 

PROGRAM 

1.  Furnishing  leaders  for  special  community  tasks. 

2.  Encouraging  financial  support. 

3.  Special  work  with  boys  and  girls. 

4.  Special  work  with  young  people. 

5.  Athletic  league  and  recreation  features. 

6.  Use  of  church  buildings  for  these  "  allies  of  the 
country  church." 

VIII.    Administration  and  Finance 

POLICY 

A  soimd  business  organization  and  an  adequate 
financial  policy  are  essential  to  the  conduct  of  the 


124  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

country  church.  This  involves  utilizing  the  available 
resources  of  a  community,  the  relation  of  the  local 
church  to  the  Home  Missionary  Aid,  the  matter  of 
minimum  salaries  for  the  resident  ministers,  and 
proper  methods  of  financial  accounting. 

PROGRAM 

1.  Official  boards  and  organizations  regularly  and 
completely  organized  with  proper  program  of  work. 

2.  Carefully  kept  records  and  regular  reports  of 
work  in  finances. 

3.  Systematic,  community-wide,  and  adequate 
financial  plan  for  local  church  support  and  benevo- 
lences. 

IX.    The  Preacher  and  His  Helpers 

POLICY 

A  resident  ministry  is  essential  to  the  highest  ef- 
ficiency of  the  country  church.  He  should  be  ade- 
quately trained  to  meet  rural  needs.  Permanency  of 
tenure  should  be  sought  by  every  possible  means, 
including  the  payment  of  salaries  commensurate  with 
present  economic  needs  and  proportionate  to  ability 
and  service.  One  of  the  greatest  tasks  of  the  pastor 
is  to  inspire,  enlist,  and  train  all  available  leadership 
on  behalf  of  the  full  measure  of  the  service  of  the 
church  to  its  members  and  to  the  community. 

program 
the  training  of  church  workers 
I.    Every  effort  should  be  made  to  train  leadership 
in  the  local  church,  such  as  Sunday-school  teachers, 


FUNCTION,  POLICY,  AND  PROGRAM  125 

lay  readers,  elders,  deacons,  leaders  of  young  people's 
societies,  officers  of  the  various  organizations  for  old 
and  young  within  the  church. 

2.  Training  in  young  people's  meetings. 

3.  Training  in  Bible  school. 

4.  Normal  class  leader  and  lectures. 

5.  Conferences  and  institutes. 

6.  Reading  and  correspondence  courses. 

7.  Personal  interviews. 

8.  Practice  work  for  novices,  including  apprentice- 
ship system. 

9.  Interchurch  visitation. 

X.    The  Preacher  a  Community  Builder 

POLICY 

The  immediate  work  of  the  pastor  is  with  the  local 
church  to  which  he  is  responsible,  but  his  efforts 
should  by  no  means  be  confined  to  the  church.  The 
church  should,  as  it  were,  lend  its  pastor  to  the  com- 
munity for  such  helpfulness  to  individuals,  agencies, 
and  causes  as  will  definitely  contribute  to  the  building 
up  of  the  community  as  a  whole. 

PROGRAM 

The  pastor  may  help  in  many  or  all  of  the  tasks  of 
rural  community  building  that  have  been  suggested 
heretofore  in  this  outline  on  behalf  of  "  better  farm- 
ing, better  business,  and  better  living." 


126  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH 
S.  L.  Morris 

Changed  conditions,  economic,  social,  educational, 
moral,  and  religious,  are  tremendously  affecting 
modern  life  from  every  angle.  A  new  era,  dominated 
by  new  thought,  new  problems,  new  environs,  and 
new  ideals,  has  created  a  new  world  of  thought  and 
life.  It  is  as  if  the  old  dispensation  had  passed  away 
and  a  new  dispensation  had  been  ushered  in. 

Whether  for  better  or  for  worse,  leadership  has 
passed  from  the  country.  Once  it  contained  the  mass 
of  the  people.  Now  the  city  is  attracting  not  simply 
the  floating  population  but  the  mechanical  genius,  the 
business  skill,  and  the  intellectual  talent  of  the  country. 
Once  the  country  church,  pastored  by  the  highest  type 
of  intellectual  and  spiritual  ministry,  influenced  the 
national  life,  setting  the  standard  of  morals  and  lead- 
ing great  revivals,  resulting  in  religious  upheavals, 
reaching  to  the  remotest  nooks  and  corners  of  the 
country.  Now  the  scepter  of  leadership,  moral,  intel- 
lectual, and  spiritual,  is  passing  to  the  city.  Is  it  the 
survival  of  the  fittest? 

The  influence  of  the  country  on  life  and  character 
can  be  only  partially  apprehended,  even  after  an  array 
of  facts  and  figures  as  familiar  as  twice-told  tales. 
Rural  scenery  and  honest  toil  are  calculated  to  make 
strong  men  phj^sically,  gigantic  men  intellectually,  and 
clean  men  morally  and  spiritually.  It  is  the  psycho- 
logical explanation   of  the  recognized   fact  that  the 


THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  127 

country  church  was  formerly  the  mother  of  teachers, 
statesmen,  and  theologians. 

City  churches  are  being  recruited  from  the  country 
not  only  in  numbers  but  in  moral  fiber.  ''  What  are 
you  doing,  away  out  in  the  backwoods  ?  "  asked  a  city 
pastor  of  a  country  minister.  ''  I  am  engaged,"  re- 
plied he,  "  in  the  work  of  helping  you  to  save  your 
city."  If  the  church  but  appreciated  the  significance  of 
this  statement,  it  would  recognize  that  the  gifts  of  the 
rich  city  church  to  evangelize  the  country  are  in  reality 
an  indirect  investment  for  its  own  salvation.  If  coun- 
try life  degenerates  and  the  rural  church  disinte- 
grates, where  will  come  the  moral  force  to  counteract 
the  degenerating  influence  of  our  increasingly  corrupt 
cities  ? 

Roosevelt's  Country  Life  Commission  sounded  the 
keynote  of  the  first  great  reform  needed :  ''  Any  con- 
sideration of  the  problem  of  rural  life  that  leaves  out 
of  account  the  function  and  possibilities  of  the  church 
and  of  related  institutions  would  be  grossly  inade- 
quate, .  .  .  because,  from  the  purely  sociological 
point  of  view,  the  church  is  fundamentally  a  necessary 
institution  in  country  life." 

One  need  not  travel  far  afield  to  discover  the  causes 
resulting  in  the  disintegration  of  the  country  church. 
Shifting  populations  are  perhaps  the  most  potent 
factor.  Cities  do  not  grow  phenominally  by  means  of 
their  own  natural  increase.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century  less  than  four  per  cent,  of  the  pop- 
ulation was  urban;  but  at  present  over  forty-six 
per  cent,  live  in  the  city. 


128  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

The  growth  of  the  city  is  at  the  expense  of  the 
country,  which  is  drained  of  its  best  blood  and 
talent;  and  the  social,  educational,  and  commercial 
advantages  of  the  city  lure  to  these  more  attractive 
fields. 

The  tenant  system  of  farming  is  paralyzing  the 
energies  of  the  religious  forces.  Men  who  do  not 
own  homes  and  who  in  all  probability  will  change  their 
dwelling-place  by  another  year  have  no  great  incentive 
either  to  build  or  to  maintain  neighborhood  churches. 
No  wonder  then  that  it  has  been  said  that  greater 
than  war,  pestilence,  and  famine  is  the  curse  of  land- 
lordism. 

The  spiritual  interests  of  the  rural  districts  are  sub- 
jected to  absent  treatment.  The  absentee  pastor  af- 
flicts the  church  with  his  presence  on  Saturday  even- 
ing, for  once  a  month  preaching,  and  he  takes  his 
flight  by  the  earliest  train  on  Monday.  Only  in  the 
remotest  degree  does  he  touch  the  social  or  spiritual 
life  of  the  community.  The  tenant  system  of  farming 
is  no  greater  curse  to  the  country  than  the  tenant  min- 
istry is  to  the  country  church. 

This  criticism  of  the  tenant  system  of  the  ministry 
has  no  reference  whatever  to  the  noble  army  of  itin- 
erant preachers  who  have  served  as  pioneers  in  desti- 
tute regions,  nor  to  the  self-denying  pastors  of  groups 
which  could  not  in  any  other  way  secure  the  services 
of  the  sanctuary.  Such  men  are  making  the  supreme 
sacrifice  of  life  and  are  making  the  care  of  souls  their 
chief  concern. 

The  facts  are  easily  ascertained  and  the  reasons  for 


THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  129 

the  disintegration  of  the  country  church  will  scarcely 
provoke  debate.  The  chief  consideration  is  the 
remedy.  The  effective  remedy  is  the  evangelistic 
pastor,  whose  earnest  messages  are  inspired  by  genuine 
love  of  souls,  inducing  a  revival  all  the  year  round, 
and  who  in  every  house  ceases  not  "  to  teach  and  to 
preach  Jesus  as  the  Christ." 

Definite  sacrifices  must  be  made.  "  The  preacher 
and  his  family  must  make  their  sacrifices  as  definitely 
as  if  they  went  to  China  or  to  Africa  to  preach  the 
gospel."  It  is  easier  to  die  a  martyr's  death  than  to 
endure  the  lifelong  martyrdom  of  a  sacrificial  life  in 
an  obscure  pastorate.  Let  the  church  challenge  her 
most  promising  men  and  see  how  many  will  respond. 
If  the  church  can  secure  volunteers  of  this  character 
it  will  be  comparatively  easy  to  save  the  country 
church;  and  it  would  carry  conviction  to  the  world  if 
the  greatest  of  all  Christ's  works  were  reproduced, — 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel  to  the  poor. 

The  key  to  the  situation  is  the  country  pastor.  Il- 
lustrations are  on  record  of  marvelous  results  accom- 
plished by  such  men  as  Matthew  B.  McNutt,  C.  O. 
Gill,  Harlow  S.  Mills,  and  others.  The  same  men 
with  the  same  equipment  and  the  same  methods  would 
succeed  in  almost  any  community  or  denomination. 
If  we  could  secure  a  sufficient  number  of  such  men 
so  as  to  constitute  a  chain,  linking  neighborhood  to 
neighborhood,  we  can  well  imagine  resuscitated  com- 
munities and  revived  churches,  till  the  country  church 
becomes  once  more  a  great  moral  standard  and  a 
spiritual  force  throughout  the  bounds  of  the  nation. 


130  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

while  the  thrill  of  its  revived  life  and  expanding 
activities  would  reach  "  unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the 
earth." 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  COMMISSION   ON 
THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

Warren  H.  Wilson 

In  proposing  the  form  of  organization  of  this  Com- 
mission one  must  first  consider  what  is  the  function 
of  the  Federal  Council  itself.  It  is  one  of  several 
federations,  each  of  which  has  a  place  as  a  service 
organization  in  united  Protestantism.  These  organ- 
izations do  not  rule  or  govern  one  another,  and  they 
avoid  competition  with  one  another.  This  results  in 
a  division  of  function.  The  Federal  Council  is,  there- 
fore, one  of  the  agencies  in  the  list  in  which  belong 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  Mission- 
ary Education  Movement,  the  Laymen's  Missionary 
Movement,  and  recently  the  Men  and  Religion  Move- 
ment. These  are  financed  separately,  possess  the  al- 
legiance of  the  churches,  and  serve,  each  of  them,  a 
definite  purpose. 

This  is  very  characteristic  of  rural  organization 
throughout  the  world.  In  the  best  organized  country 
life  we  know  the  multi-cellular  type  prevails.  Co- 
operative creameries  have  attached  to  them  egg- 
gathering  associations.     Rural  credit  societies  are  as- 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  COMMISSION        131 

sociated  with  cooperative  stores.  But  these  various 
organizations  are  independent  of  one  another.  They 
do  not  govern  one  another,  and  they  avoid  com- 
petition. 

What,  therefore,  is  the  function  of  the  Federal 
Council  among  the  great  service  organizations  of 
American  Protestantism  ? 

I.  It  gets  isolated  workers  together.  It  warms  the 
heart  of  the  aggressive  Christian  leader  with  a  larger 
fellowship.  It  gives  him  a  sense  of  wholeness  where- 
with to  heal  the  individualism  of  denominational 
action.  Our  independence  has  forfeited  for  us  our 
right  to  experience  Christianity  as  one.  We  do  not 
regret  the  price  we  pay  for  our  religious  liberty,  but 
we  value  as  a  precious  thing  the  meetings  afforded  us 
by  the  Federal  Council. 

II.  The  Federal  Council  in  its  various  gatherings 
publishes  the  testimony  of  the  churches  to  the  unity  of 
Christendom.  It  exalts  the  oneness  of  all  these 
churches  in  the  interests  committed  to  various  Com- 
missions of  the  Council. 

III.  The  Federal  Council  publishes  a  literature  on 
unity. 

IV.  It  investigates  and  publishes  the  conditions 
which  affect  all  the  churches  alike. 

V.  The  Federal  Council  sends  deputations  to  cer- 
tain civic  and  economic  powers.  It  is  a  body  big 
enough  to  command  the  attention  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States  and  its  dignity  is  sufficient  to  enable 
it  to  represent  the  churches  in  the  American  Federa- 
tion of  Labor. 


132  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

VI.  The  Federal  Council  regulates  and  guides  the 
forces  which  work  toward  federation.  I  do  not 
think  the  Federal  Council  has,  or  any  of  these  federa- 
tions and  quasi- federation^  in  the  churches  has,  the 
power  to  initiate  federation,  but  we  have  in  the  Coun- 
cil an  agency  capable  of  guiding  the  forces  in  the 
churches  whenever  federation  is  needed.  This  great 
body  purges  proposals  of  their  false  and  unsound  fea- 
tures. It  furnishes  typical  forms,  provides  informa- 
tion as  to  experience,  and  is  itself  a  great  clearing- 
house whereby  the  forces  working  for  federation  may 
avoid  competition  with  one  another. 

VII.  The  Federal  Council  does  not  at  any  time 
impair  the  influence  of  the  church,  but  strengthens  it. 
It  works  for  the  churches  and  confers  upon  them  a 
great  benefit  in  giving  to  each  commimion  the  weight 
and  the  support,  the  sanction  and  the  fellowship,  of 
every  other  communion. 

Furthermore,  let  us  ask  what  this  Commission  has 
done  as  a  preliminary  to  suggesting  what  form  of 
organization  it  most  needs  to-day. 

First,  this  Commission  has  inherited  the  Gill  and 
Pinchot  Survey  of  Windsor  County,  Vermont,  and 
Tompkins  County,  New  York,  which  was  published  by 
the  Macmillan  Co.  under  the  title.  The  Country 
Church.  This  Commission  has  collated,  in  the  second 
place,  and  has  at  this  meeting  presented,  reports,  some 
of  them  careful  and  thorough,  upon  certain  static  as- 
pects of  the  country  church.  This  investigation  has 
looked  upon  the  church  as  an  existing  thing  rather 
than  as  a  progressive  institution.     They  present  a 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  COMMISSION  ^     133 

static,  not  a  dynamic  view  of  the  church.  Third, 
through  Mr.  Gill's  office  in  Columbus  this  Commission 
has  investigated  rural  conditions  in  Ohio,  with  a  view 
to  county  and  state  federations.  And,  fourth,  it  has 
assembled  this  Conference. 

In  view  of  this  definition  of  the  place  of  the  Federal 
Council,  and  in  view  of  the  needs  of  the  time,  it 
seems  to  me  that  this  Commission  should  organize 
along  the  following  lines  for  the  coming  two  years : 

I.  Avoiding  duplication  with  the  Missionary  Edu- 
cation Movement,  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Move- 
ment, the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  and 
other  bodies  of  similar  type,  and  utilizing  their  service 
as  if  we  were  an  organic  part  of  their  work,  the  Com- 
mission should  continue  for  the  future  to  investigate 
rural  conditions  within  definite  limits.  The  brilliant 
record  made  by  Mr.  Gill  as  an  investigator  justifies 
a  continuance  of  this  function.  There  will  for  years 
to  come  be  need  of  thorough  and  convincing  work  in 
the  investigation  of  rural  conditions.  It  is  to  be  said 
here,  however,  that  there  is  no  longer  need  of  investi- 
gation for  propaganda  purposes  alone.  The  attention 
of  the  public  has  been  commanded.  We  can  now  get 
a  hearing  when  we  ask  it.  We  do  not  need  to  investi- 
gate every  general  appeal  to  the  public  as  once  we  did. 
The  time  has  come  now  when  investigation  should  be 
harnessed  to  particular  tasks.  I  believe,  therefore,  that 
the  Commission  should  decide  to  limit  the  work  of 
investigation  to  the  function  of  preparing  for  definite 
action  proposed.  In  Ohio  we  propose  a  definite  action, 
namely:   to  organize  the   state  and  to  organize  the 


134  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

counties  of  the  state  in  the  interest  of  the  country 
church.  In  this  state,  therefore,  investigation  directed 
toward  that  end  is  being  made.  I  believe  that  the 
Commission  should  direct  its  energies  to  the  investiga- 
tion of  those  fields  in  which  federations  may  be  pro- 
posed, and  in  which  the  service  of  this  Commission  is 
sought  with  that  end  in  view. 

2.  The  Commission  should  continue  to  publish  in 
books  and  pamphlets  and  in  newspaper  articles  the  re- 
sult of  these  investigations,  and  the  reports  otherwise 
made  to  it.  There  is  a  continuing  need  of  printed 
matter  on  the  country  church,  and  a  constant  propa- 
ganda should  be  carried  on  in  the  interest  of  the 
country  church. 

3.  The  Commission  should  hold  conferences  for 
getting  together  the  people  who  are  interested  in  the 
country  church.  The  annual  conference  held  by  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  until  last  year 
rendered  a  great  service,  and,  if  the  way  is  open,  such 
a  conference  ought  to  be  held  by  the  Federal  Council 
in  a  way  to  avoid  interference  with  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association.  The  Federal  Council  represents 
the  churches  organically,  and,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
conferences  do  not  legislate  for  the  churches,  their 
value  is  very  great  in  bringing  together  those  who 
have  been  working  in  lonely  places  without  the  privi- 
lege of  intercourse  and  interchange  of  experience. 

4.  We  believe  that  the  Commission  should  cham- 
pion the  country  church  in  legislative  proposals  now 
being  considered.  For  instance,  the  discussion  of  rural 
credit  is  of  great  concern  to  the  churches.     No  indi- 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  COMMISSION       135 

vidual  church  has  the  right — which  the  Federal  Coun- 
cil has — to  approach  government  officials,  from  the 
President  of  the  United  States  to  the  humblest  assem- 
blyman. Such  a  Federal  Council  as  we  are  should 
arrange  for  the  advocacy  of  those  legislative  pro- 
posals which  will  assist  the  country  church  and  for 
opposing  those  whose  vicious  character  would  injure 
the  country  church  and  community. 

In  the  same  connection,  the  Commission  should  de- 
fine its  position  on  the  country  school  and  should  take 
active  measures  wherever  opportunity  offers,  espe- 
cially at  Washington  and  at  state  capitals,  to  promote 
such  reorganization  of  the  country  school  as  shall 
strengthen  the  country  church  of  all  denominations. 
With  all  frankness  we  should  face  the  fact  that  we  are 
working  for  those  churches  which  are  not  in  the  Coun- 
cil as  actively  as  for  those  churches  which  are  within 
the  Federal  Council. 

The  Federal  Council  should  also  promote  church 
activity,  or,  more  precisely  perhaps  we  should  say, 
guide  church  activity  along  three  lines. 

1.  It  should  further  the  organization  of  depart- 
ments in  the  leading  religious  communions  which  shall 
advance  the  interests  of  the  country  church  and  con- 
serve the  rural  congregations. 

2.  The  Commission  ought  to  prepare  for  the  so- 
cieties that  are  in  the  churches  such  literature  and 
lesson  studies,  and  ought  to  push  the  use  of  such  meth- 
ods as  shall  make  the  Sunday-school,  the  Endeavor 
Society,  and  kindred  organizations  directly  useful  to 
the  country  church. 


136  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

3.  The  Commission  ought  to  assist  in  the  formation 
of  state  and  county  federations,  where  the  churches 
are  incHned  to  form  these  bodies.  I  do  not  think  that 
the  Federal  Council  can  undertake,  as  a  rule,  to  fed- 
erate the  churches.  These  local  federations  will  arise 
of  themselves.  Furthermore,  the  Federal  Council  has 
a  Commission  to  which  is  assigned  the  work  of  "  fed- 
erated movements."  It  will  be  the  business  of  this 
Commission  to  promote  federations,  county  and  state 
in  character.  It  should  be  our  business  to  cooperate 
with  these  bodies  and  to  direct  along  rural  lines  the 
work  that  they  shall  do. 

To  this  end  the  Commission  on  the  Church  and 
Country  Life  ought  to  have,  it  seems  to  me,  the  fol- 
lowing committees,  and  these  committees  should  be 
intrusted  with  the  right  to  pass  upon  all  actions  of  the 
Commission  or  of  its  secretary  within  the  lines  of 
work  assigned  to  these  various  committees  re- 
spectively : 

1.  A  Committee  on  Survey. 

2.  A  Committee  on  Denominational  Organizations 
and  Societies. 

3.  A  Committee  on  Legislation  and  Education. 

4.  A  Committee  on  State  and  County  Federations. 

5.  A  Committee  on  Literature. 

These  five  committees  will  do  unpaid  labor  and,  as 
far  as  we  can  see,  for  the  future  the  most  of  the  work 
of  this  Commission  must  be  unpaid  labor.  Resources 
do  not  now  appear  for  extending  the  work  of  the 
Commission  through  paid  employees.  The  important 
thing  is,  therefore,  to  extend  the  Commission's  work 


ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  COMMISSION       137 

by  the  hands  of  volunteers,  and  this  will  be  secured 
when  these  volunteer  committees  are  trusted,  and 
when  the  Commission  and  its  Secretary  and  its  Presi- 
dent take  action  only  as  approved  by  these  various 
committees. 

The  financial  problem  of  the  Commission  is  an  im- 
portant one,  but  it  does  not  seem  wise  that  the  Com- 
mission's work  should  be  limited  by  the  ability  or 
inability  of  this  Commission  to  raise  a  separate  fund. 
Let  us  face  the  future  with  reliance  upon  the  volunteer 
work  of  men  who'  value  this  Commission  sO'  much  that 
they  are  willing  to  spend  some  of  their  own  money  on 
car-fare,  and  some  of  their  own  time  in  service  tO'  the 
general  cause. 

It  then  remains  that  the  Commission  must  find  the 
means  for  certain  definite  work,  as  follows,  that  will 
require  to  be  paid  for: 

1.  Surveys. 

2.  Holding  of  conferences. 

3.  The  publishing  of  the  results  of  investigation. 

4.  Organization  of  federations. 

5.  The  exerting  of  influence  upon  legislation. 

All  these  cost  money.  We  gratefully  recognize  the 
generous  support  which  the  Commission  has  had  in 
the  past  from  the  large-hearted  man  whose  foresight 
has  created  this  work  and  called  us  together.  In  volun- 
teering our  services  we  recognize  that  the  greater  the 
body  of  volunteer  work,  the  greater  must  be  the  ex- 
pense of  the  central  office.  We  believe  this  expense 
should  be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  There  are  too  many 
causes  now  asking  for  mone}^,  and  the  Commission  has 


138  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

not  found  itself  skilful  in  raising  money.  We  recom- 
mend, however,  that  a  Committee  on  Finance  be  ap- 
pointed, to  consist  of  five  members,  including  the 
chairman,  secretary,  and  three  other  members  of  the 
Commission  appointed  by  the  chairman. 

In  short,  the  scope  of  the  Commission  on  the  Church 
and  Country  Life  should  be  national,  representing  all 
the  churches,  v^hich  shall  cooperate  with  religious  de- 
nominations in  the  nation.  It  shall  investigate  coun- 
try conditions  with  a  view  to  action  exclusively.  It 
shall  publish  the  results  of  investigation  and  other  ma- 
terial of  interest  to  the  churches  of  all  denom.inations. 
It  shall  hold  conferences  for  getting  men  together,  at 
least  one  country  church  conference  of  national  char- 
acter once  a  year.  It  shall  champion  the  country 
church  in  legislation  for  rural  credit,  for  suitable  edu- 
cational reform,  and  it  shall  push  the  organization 
throughout  the  various  churches  of  departments  of 
church  and  country  life,  aiming  to  secure  such  a  depart- 
ment in  every  one  of  the  leading  denominations.  It 
shall  advocate  also  suitable  organization  and  litera- 
ture, such  as  country  churches  need  in  Sunday-schools 
and  young  people's  societies,  and  it  shall  also  promote 
the  interest  of  state  and  county  federations.  These 
interests  will  sufficiently  occupy  the  Commission  dur- 
ing the  next  two  years  and  will  lay  a  foundation  for 
the  future  work  of  this  body. 


TRAINING  OF  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY         139 

THE  TRAINING  OF  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY 

{Report  of  Committee) 
George  B.  Stewart,  Chairman,  Kenyon  L.  But- 

TERFIELD,      EdWIN      L.      EaRP,      G.      WaLTER      FiSKE, 

Arthur  S.  Hoyt,  Frank  A.  Starratt,  Warren  H. 
Wilson. 

Your  Committee  on  the  Training  of  the  Rural  Min- 
istry would  respectfully  report  as  follows : 

It  has  not  been  possible  for  the  Committee  to  hold 
a  meeting,  but  it  has  carried  forward  its  work  by  cor- 
respondence. The  conclusions  of  this  report,  while 
not  the  unqualified  expression  of  the  opinion  of  the 
members  of  the  Committee,  may  be  said  fairly  to  sum- 
marize the  several  opinions  held  by  them. 

We  take  pleasure  in  presenting  in  its  entirety  for 
the  careful  consideration  of  those  concerned  with  the 
solution  of  the  important  problems  covered  by  this  sub- 
ject, "  A  Tentative  Program  for  the  Better  Training 
of  Rural  Ministers,"  prepared  by  a  committee  of  the 
Massachusetts  Federation  of  Churches.  This  com- 
mittee is  a  pioneer  in  this  field  of  education  and  has 
given  much  attention  to  its  task.  This  tentative  pro- 
gram has  much  to  commend  it  to  favorable  considera- 
tion and  has  already  received  approval  in  its  main 
items  of  the  seminaries  of  Greater  Boston. 

"  A  Tentative  Program  for  the  Better  Training 
of  Rural  Ministers,  Massachusetts  Federation  of 
Churches : 


140  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

I.    For  Theological  Students 

"  A.    Principles  of  Preparation. 

"  Students  who  look  forward  to  the  rural  ministry 
should  have: 

''  I.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  the  English  Bible,  as 
fundamental  to  their  interpretation  of  the  Christian 
religion.  This  would  include  the  history  of  the  life 
and  thought  of  the  Hebrew  people,  both  in  Old  and 
New  Testament  times,  an  intimate  acquaintance  with 
the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus  and  the  Apostles,  and 
correct  methods  of  interpretation. 

''2.  A  resonably  good  command  of  the  philosophy 
of  religion,  and  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  as  they 
have  developed  in  the  church,  and  of  the  influence  of 
Christianity  upon  society  at  large. 

"  3.  An  understanding  of  religious  psychology  and 
rural  sociology,  that  they  may  enter  intelligently  and 
sympathetically  into  individual,  family,  and  community 
life,  and  be  of  spiritual  and  social  service  to  each. 

"  4.  Training  in  methods  of  approach  to  the  people 
as  preachers,  pastors,  and  religious  educators,  and  in- 
struction in  the  best  methods  of  effective  organization 
of  the  forces  of  the  church  and  the  community. 

"5.  Instruction  in  making  rural  surveys  and  experi- 
ence with  pastorates  in  the  country,  in  order  to  acquire 
adequate  material  for  community  leadership. 

"  6.  A  conviction  of  the  importance  of  the  rural 
ministry  as  a  life-work,  and  willingness  to  give  at 
least  five  years  to  the  building  up  of  a  single  com- 
munity in  the  true  missionary  spirit. 


TRAINING  OF  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY         141 

"  B.    Course  of  Study. 

"  I.  Their  curriculum  in  the  seminary  should  in- 
clude biblical  literature,  history,  and  interpretation; 
the  history  of  Christianity,  especially  in  its  modem 
period  in  America;  with  research  work  and  reports  on 
rural  movements  and  biography;  theology — biblical, 
historical,  and  systematic;  homiletics  and  pastoral 
methods;  general  sociology  and  the  specific  problems 
of  the  rural  church;  and  psychology  and  pedagogy, 
with  special  study  of  the  rural  Sunday-school. 

"  2.  Elsewhere  than  in  the  seminary,  they  should 
make  a  study  of  agriculture,  including  farm  practice 
and  management  and  the  application  of  science  to  farm 
problems;  agricultural  economics,  including  coopera- 
tion and  market  distribution;  farm  business  methods; 
and  advanced  rural  sociology,  including  rural  educa- 
tion, art,  and  literature,  recreation,  sanitation,  and 
social  organization.  These  may  be  pursued  by  means 
of  summer  schools,  correspondence  courses,  or  one  or 
two  years  in  an  agricultural  college. 

11.    For  Settled  Ministers 

"  Men  already  in  the  ministry  should  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  supplement  their  previous  training  and  to  re- 
ceive occasional  stimulus. 

"  I.  Through  Summer  Schools,  in  sessions  of  two 
weeks  or  more,  consisting  of  forenoon  lectures,  one 
of  which  shall  deal  with  a  phase  of  the  rural  church 
problem;  afternoon  conferences  and  excursions,  and 
evening  addresses  of  an  inspirational  nature. 

"2.    Through  Addresses  and  Conferences  at  church 


142  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

associations  and  conventions,  wherever  representatives 
of  rural  church  interests  come  together. 

"  3.  Through  Rural  Institutes,  where  speakers  from 
seminaries,  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association, 
the  agricultural  college,  and  other  rural  agencies  may 
discuss  their  common  interests  and  lay  plans  for  co- 
operation. 

"  4.  Through  Correspondence  Courses,  maintained 
by  seminary  and  agricultural  college,  through  which 
the  student  may  keep  in  touch  with  the  most  recent 
investigations  and  conclusions. 

*'  5.  Through  such  local  groups  as  reading  clubs, 
improvement  societies,  and  other  agencies  of  local  bet- 
terment, which  shall  unite  all  the  progressive  forces  of 
the  community." 

It  will  appear  from  what  follows  that  your  com- 
mittee is  in  substantial  agreement  with  this  Committee 
of  the  Massachusetts  Federation  of  Churches.  It 
would  seem  that  this  report  assumes  an  antecedent  cul- 
tural course  and  general  theological  training.  Other- 
wise, it  would  be  open  to  serious  criticism,  as  lacking 
in  necessary  foundation  preparation  for  the  special 
training  admirably  outlined  in  it. 

Your  committee  finds  that  the  task  set  for  it  falls 
naturally  into  four  divisions. 

I.    The  Training  of  the  Theological  Student 

I.    The  country  minister  must  be  as  strong  a  man 
and  as  thoroughly  equipped  as  any  other  minister. 
In  the  treatment  of  the  country  church  and  the  coun- 


TRAINING  OF  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY         143 

try  minister  this  vital  fact  is  too  frequently  over- 
looked. It  is  an  initial  blunder  that  is  responsible  in 
a  large  degree  for  the  pitiable  plight  of  many  rural 
parishes.  Those  charged  with  the  preparation  of 
young  men  for  ministry  in  the  country  must  recognize 
that  it  is  a  waste  of  effort  to  train  men  who  have  not 
initiative,  capacity  for  leadership,  intellectual  endow- 
ment. It  goes  without  saying  that  the  young  man 
must  be  good,  for  spiritual  qualities  are  indispensable. 
But  he  must  also  be  good  for  something,  if  he  is  to 
be  a  country  pastor. 

This  conviction  that  the  rural  minister  must  be  a 
man  whose  endowment  is  of  a  very  high  order  is 
fundamental  to  the  satisfactory  solution  of  the  coun- 
try church  problem.  The  men  who  in  the  past  have 
adequately  served  the  country  church,  the  men  who 
are  doing  it  to-day  qualify  in  this  respect.  It  must  be 
understood  that  no  other  grade  need  apply. 

2.  The  curriculum  should  provide  for  the  thorough 
training  of  the  country  minister  in  things  fundamental. 
It  is  difficult  to  think  that  he  can  have  a  too  complete 
scholarly  equipment  for  his  task.  Above  all  things  his 
training  should  be  of  that  quality  which  would  culti- 
vate his  powers  of  observation,  reflection,  concentra- 
tion, and  persistent  intellectual  toil.  If  he  is  to  func- 
tion properly  in  his  sphere  he  must  have  his  intellectual 
powers  well  in  hand  and  at  his  command.  He  cannot 
be  too  well  informed.  He  cannot  be  too  accurate  a 
thinker.  He  cannot  be  too  intellectually  forceful.  It 
would,  therefore,  be  the  poorest  sort  of  pedagogy  that 
would  sacrifice  his  general  culture  for  specialized  prac- 


144  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

tical  training.  Therefore,  all  those  biblical  and  other 
studies  which  are  regarded  by  any  seminary  as  funda- 
mental to  the  Christian  ministry  should  be  regarded 
as  fundamental  for  him. 

In  no  case  should  he  be  thought  to  be  inferior  in 
social  attainments  or  intellectual  gifts  and  still  be 
thought  to  be  suited  to  a  country  parish  because  of 
this  inferiority.  Our  country  ministers  and  our  coun- 
try churches  must  be  made  to  feel  a  self-respect  that 
is  not  possible  so  long  as  they  are  regarded  as  not 
quite  the  equals  of  their  city  contemporaries. 

3.  In  specializing  for  this  work  the  seminary  might, 
with  great  profit,  add  to  its  general  courses,  elective 
courses  in  "  the  country  church  as  a  community  cen- 
ter," "  rural  sociology,"  "  rural  social  organization," 
''  rural  social  engineering,"  with  a  view  to  informing 
the  student  in  the  social  problems  he  will  face  in  the 
parish  and  the  position  he  must  fill  as  the  leader.  He 
must  be  trained  for  leadership. 

This  should  not  require  him  to  be  trained  in  agricul- 
ture. It  is  unreasonable  to  ask  the  seminary  to  add 
this  large  department  of  culture  tO'  its  already  over- 
crowded curriculum,  and  it  is  equally  unreasonable  to 
exact  of  the  minister,  of  whom  already  so  much  is 
required,  that  he  should  be  informed  in  the  farmer's 
job.  All  that  is  required  of  him  is  that  he  should  be 
sympathetically  and  intelligently  interested  in  the  work 
of  the  farm.  The  farmer,  no  more  than  the  city  pew- 
holder,  expects  or  desires  his  minister  to-  be  an  expert 
in  any  other  than  his  own  job.  If  he  is  this  he  will 
meet  all  the  demands  of  his  country  parish.     And  he 


TRAINING  OF  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY         145 

should  be  an  expert  in  his  own  sphere.  He  must  know 
his  own  job  down  to  the  smallest  detail.  Time  taken 
from  perfecting  himself  in  this,  even  if  it  is  spent  in 
learning  the  job  of  the  farmer,  is  misspent. 

4.  The  student  for  the  ministry  must  have  a  vision 
of  the  new  country  church.  The  day  is  past,  if  it 
ever  really  existed,  when  the  country  minister  can 
meet  the  demands  of  his  parish  solely  in  the  conven- 
tional pastoral  way.  The  country  church  must  adjust 
itself  to  the  community  as  its  servant,  and  its  pastor 
must  be  the  leader  of  this  social  group  and  the  director 
of  it  as  a  community  force.  To  give  him  this  vision 
and  to  prepare  him  for  this  leadership  is  essential  in 
the  preparation  of  the  theological  student. 

5.  The  student  for  the  ministry  must  be  alive  to  the 
religious  character  of  his  mission.  He  and  his  church 
are  to  utilize  the  religious  forces,  present  the  religious 
ideals,  promote  the  religious  interests,  and  develop  the 
religious  life  of  the  community.  They  are  the  repre- 
sentatives of  religion,  and  it  is  for  them  to  make  re- 
ligion effective.  This  is  the  point  at  which  the  church 
and  the  minister  are  to  function.  The  community  de- 
pends upon  them  to  furnish  the  religious  ideals, 
religious  motive,  religious  inspiration,  religious  power. 
If  they  fail  to  do  this,  the  community  is  deprived  of 
the  most  potent  forces  for  its  uplift,  for  the  furnishing 
of  which  they  are  constituted. 


146  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

II.  The  Training  of  Young  Men  who  Omit 

THE  Seminary 

It  is  said  that  there  is  a  large  body  of  men  who  go 
direct  from  college,  or  from  high  schools,  to  the  coun- 
try parishes  without  any  theological  training.  The 
number  is  reckoned  by  some  of  our  committee  as  high 
as  eighty-five  per  cent,  of  those  entering  the  ministry. 
This  body  of  country  ministers  creates  a  field  for  the 
seminary  which  must  not  be  overlooked  or  neglected. 

Your  committee  is  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  more  a 
denominational  than  a  seminary  matter,  as  there  is 
wide  divergence  among  the  denominations  in  their 
practice  at  this  point.  The  theory  and  policy  regarding 
the  training  of  ministers  is  widely  divergent,  and  it 
would  seem  that  it  is  incumbent  upon  those  denomina- 
tions that  encourage  this  practice  to  provide  the  train- 
ing that  these  members  of  their  clerical  body  need  for 
the  discharge  of  their  professional  duties.  Your  com- 
mittee does  not  feel  itself  sufficiently  advised  as  to  the 
various  elements  in  the  problem  thus  presented  to  be 
qualified  to  make  suggestions  that  would  have  more 
than  general  value.  Some  of  the  suggestions  made  in 
other  parts  of  this  report  may  be  of  service  to  the  class 
of  men  referred  to  in  this  section. 

III.  The  Training  of  Country  Pastors  for 

Larger  Efficiency 

Your  committee  offers  the  following  suggestions  to 
this  end : 

I.    These  ministers  need  refilling  along  all  lines  of 


TRAINING  OF  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY         147 

their  intellectual  life.  Whatever  special  equipment 
they  may  need  in  view  of  their  immediate  work  they 
must,  above  all  things,  avoid  the  narrowing  effects  of 
intensive  specialization.  They,  therefore,  must  pre- 
serve their  interest  in  intellectual  matters  apart  from 
and  beyond  those  immediately  involved  in  the  rural 
life  and  work  which  are  theirs.  They  ought  tO'  do 
general  reading.  They  must  do  strenuous  study  on 
some  theological,  scientific,  literary,  or  other  subject. 

2.  They  should  also  follow  some  well-devised 
scheme  of  reading  and  study  in  rural  matters.  Here 
they  should  become  specialists,  and  they  can  only  be- 
come such  by  severe  toil.  As  has  been  said,  they  do 
not  have  to  become  farmers  or  even  know  much  about 
farming,  but  they  do  need  to  know  the  economic,  so- 
cial, moral,  and  religious  problems  of  the  rural  com- 
munity and  know  how  to  utilize  the  economic,  social, 
moral,  religious  forces  for  the  uplift  of  their  rural 
communities.  What  they  knew  last  year  will  not  an- 
swer for  this  year.  They  must  progress.  To  remain 
stationary  is  fatal  to  their  effectiveness. 

3.  The  country  minister  must  supply  himself  with 
the  inspiration,  the  enthusiasm,  the  facilities  for  keep- 
ing up  his  equipment  and  preserving  himself  at  the 
highest  efficiency.  There  is  not  much  of  these  to  come 
to  him  from  his  field.  His  great  peril  is  intellectual 
inertia  and  indolence.  He  must  sit  constantly  as  a 
sentinel  over  his  life,  or  he  will  without  perceiving  it 
drift  into  a  helpless  and  hopeless  state  of  self-satisfac- 
tion and  laziness.  Perhaps  his  most  serious  problem 
is  himself,  for  it  is  a  most  difficult  thing  to  keep  one's 


148  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

self  to  concert  pitch,  when  there  is  Httle  or  no  stimulus 
to  do  it  from  one's  surroundings.  Yet  he  must  do  it. 
The  one  hope  of  the  rural  minister  against  the  fatal 
peril  of  stagnation  is  that  he  himself  will  seize  every 
opportunity  to  stimulate  and  enrich  his  mental  and 
spiritual  life. 

4.  Summer  schools  offer  excellent  opportunities  for 
help  to  the  country  minister. 

There  are  many  of  these  schools  in  various  parts  of 
the  country,  and  some  of  them  are  connected  with 
theological  seminaries.  The  seminary  furnishes  an 
ideal  atmosphere  for  this  kind  of  professional  revival. 
It  is  an  educational  center  where  the  ideals  are  intel- 
lectual, and  at  the  same  time  are  chastened  and  en- 
riched by  the  religious  spirit.  The  inducements  to 
study  are  potent,  while  the  inducements  to  pleasure  or 
rest  are  reduced  to  a  minimum.  The  classroom  and 
not  platform  are  featured.  Work  is  the  watchword 
and  work  is  what  the  minister  needs  most.  Work 
under  the  wise  guidance  of  expert  teachers,  work  in 
some  severe  theological  or  other  discipline,  work  in 
the  midst  of  surroundings  that  suggest  and  provoke  it. 
The  seminary  summer  school  furnishes  this  atmos- 
phere and  these  stimuli  to  the  rural  minister. 

There  should  be  due  recognition  in  the  curriculum 
of  the  school  of  both  general  theological  studies  and 
specialized  practical  courses. 

The  ministers  who  are  alive  to  the  possibilities  of 
their  calling  will  be  the  first  to  see  the  value  of  such 
schools  and  will  allow  nothing  trivial  to  deprive  them 
of  their  benefits.     To  men  on  small  salary  the  item  of 


TRAINING  OF  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY         149 

expense  is  often  felt  to  be  prohibitive.  Churches  could 
hardly  make  a  wiser  investment  than  by  sending  their 
pastors  to  one  of  these  schools.  They  should  put  the 
item  in  their  annual  budget. 

5.  Short  courses  at  theological  seminaries  are  de- 
sirable for  ministers. 

For  pastors  in  service  there  is  the  greatest  need  of 
educational  provision.  Of  all  professions  the  ministry 
has  the  least  attention  from  the  university  or  from  the 
theological  seminary.  After  the  minister  is  once  gradu- 
ated he  is  left  to  shift  for  himself  and  nothing  much 
is  done  to  make  him  a  better  preacher,  a  better  shep- 
herd of  the  flock,  a  better  administrator  of  the  affairs 
of  the  parish. 

To  this  end  short  courses  should  be  provided  by  the 
seminaries  for  the  ministers  in  service.  They  might 
be  for  a  semester  or  a  half  of  a  semester.  In  these  he 
should  have  teachers  rather  than  text-books,  seminar 
or  laboratory  work  in  addition  to  lectures.  Every 
man  who  has  been  out  in  the  pastorate  for  five  years 
should  aim  to  get  this  sort  of  a  release  from  his  pastoral 
work  and  go  up  to  a  seminary  for  eight  or  fifteen 
weeks.  The  emphasis  that  he  needs  is  not  inspira- 
tional but  intellectual  and  therefore  the  seminary  is  the 
place  to  which  he  should  go.  The  seminary  might 
easily  arrange  the  schedule  of  the  undergraduate 
classes  so  as  to  make  some  if  not  all  of  these  short 
courses  part  of  the  undergraduate  work,  and  thus 
bring  these  pastors  into  the  scholastic  atmosphere  of 
the  regular  seminary  classroom,  which  would  be  a 
great  gain  to  the  pastors. 


150  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

The  wider  the  range  of  these  short  courses  the 
better  for  ministers,  as  in  this  way  they  will  have  a 
large  range  of  subjects  from  which  to  make  selection, 
and  a  larger  variety  of  needs  and  desires  may  be  met. 
If  a  narrow  range  of  subjects  is  alone  possible,  then 
there  should  be  a  fair  division  between  fundamental 
subjects,  such  as  some  biblical  course  or  a  church  his- 
tory course,  and  specialized  subjects,  such  as  rural 
economics  or  rural  sociology. 

6.  Correspondence  courses  for  ministers  are  desira- 
ble. Extension  work  by  the  seminaries,  through  cor- 
respondence, ought  to  be  well  organized  and  vigorously 
prosecuted.  In  this  way  the  seminaries  might  carry 
a  continuous  stream  of  influence  from  the  centers  of 
sacred  learning  to  many  parish  studies  where  outside 
intellectual  influences  might  not  otherwise  penetrate. 
These  courses  might  cover  as  wide  a  range  of  the- 
ological and  allied  disciplines  as  the  seminaries  might 
find  themselves  able  to  manage. 

IV.    The  Training  of  Lay  Leaders 

This  is  an  important  and  at  the  same  time  a  dif- 
ficult part  of  the  task  of  bringing  the  country  church  to 
its  best  development.  It  is  all  too  frequently  the  case 
that  the  most  serious  obstacle  tO'  the  efliciency  of  the 
country  church  are  the  men  and  women  who  by  every 
consideration  should  be  the  progressive  leaders  but  are 
in  fact  obstinate  obstructionists.  These  persons  are 
often  found  among  the  officials.  Many  a  pastor  has 
come  to  his  task  with  a  vision  of  the  opportunities  and 
the  duties  of  the  church,  or  has  received  a  fresh  vision 


TRAINING  OF  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY         151 

of  these,  and  with  enthusiasm  and  hope  has  sought  to 
put  his  vision  into  form  and  substance,  only  to  find 
that  the  men  and  women  who  could  help  are  deter- 
mined upon  hindering  him. 

Even  under  the  most  favoring  conditions  of  pas- 
toral efficiency,  the  effectiveness  of  the  country  church 
depends  in  large  degree  upon  trained  lay  leadership. 
Earnest  attention  must  be  given  to  the  task  of  provid- 
ing adequate  training  for  these  leaders.  This  may  be 
accomplished  in  the  following  ways : 

1.  The  pastor  should  establish  classes  for  the  study 
of  local  church  and  community  problems,  economics, 
sociology,  church  history;  organize  committees  for 
community  betterment  along  one  or  more  lines;  ar- 
range for  lecture  courses  with  a  view  to  community 
enlightenment;  and  in  other  ways  utilize  local  facilities 
and  talent. 

2.  Little  schools  of  religion  should  be  organized  by 
theological  seminaries  in  successive  communities  under 
the  administration  of  some  member  of  their  faculties. 
They  should  be  held  for  a  week  for  the  serious  study 
of  the  Bible,  church  finance,  church  efficiency,  soci- 
ology, economics,  religious  education,  and  other  sub- 
jects according  to  local  needs  and  conditions.  Possibly 
the  more  mature  students  could  be  used  as  helpers  in 
these  schools,  and  local  people  should  be  largely  used, 
even  though  they  may  be  poorly  qualified.  Wisely 
managed,  these  schools  may  be  immensely  helpful  to 
both  pastors  and  people  in  m_any  ways  and  would  con- 
stitute a  most  valuable  form  of  seminary  extension. 

3.  Seminaries  should  maintain  summer  schools  for 


152  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

laymen.  There  are  already  many  conferences  and 
assernblies  which  are  of  value  and  there  is  small  need 
to  add  to  their  number.  But  there  is  need  for  real 
schools  where  laymen  may  be  systematically  instructed 
in  things  pertaining  to  the  present  church  problems 
and  their  solution.  There  is  no  better  place  for  these 
schools  than  the  institutions  where  their  pastors  are 
instructed  in  the  same  subjects,  and  there  are  no  better 
teachers  for  them  than  the  teachers  at  whose  feet  their 
pastors  have  sat.  The  atmosphere  of  the  seminary  is 
favorable  to  the  ends  of  schools  for  laymen.  Under 
the  conditions  thus  suggested  the  benefit  to  the  lay 
student  of  a  two-weeks'  serious  study  and  the  resulting 
advantage  to  the  churches  and  communities  are  not 
easily  measured. 

It  may  seem  that  your  committee  has  elaborated  an 
extensive  program,  one,  in  fact,  so  extensive  as  to  be 
practically  impossible.  We  are  not  so  optimistic  as  to 
think  that  all  of  these  things  can  be  done  at  once  by 
any  one  institution,  or  one  man,  or  one  group  of  men. 
But  it  is  our  hope  that  out  of  these  various  suggestions 
different  pastors  and  churches  may  be  able  to  make  a 
selection  of  something  that  is  adaptable  and  workable 
in  the  conditions  in  which  they  have  to  work.  We 
venture  to  think  that  every  minister  and  every  church 
that  wish  to  come  to  larger  efficiency  may  find  a  way 
to  accomplish  this  desire,  if  they  seek  for  it  with  all 
their  heart.  It  may  be  that  in  this  report  they  may 
find  some  suggestions  that  will  be  of  help  to  them  in 
their  search. 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY       153 

TRAINING  FOR  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY 
V.  G.  A.  Tresslcr 

It  goes  without  saying  that  there  must  be  training, 
and  already  there  is  great  advance;  for  not  so  very 
long  ago  a  great  part  of  the  American  Church  was 
quite  dubious  as  to  the  necessity  of  much,  if  any, 
ministerial  training  for  the  country  worker.  But  we 
are  in  the  age  of  training — training,  if  you  please,  for 
efficiency — and  all  of  us  are  restlessly  alive  to  its  value, 
its  insistency,  its  primacy.  The  church  is,  and  it  is  to 
be.  We  are  not  alarmed  about  its  future.  It  has  a 
mission,  a  message,  and  a  ministry. 

There  is  to  be  a  church,  and  it  is  to  have  a  min- 
istry. We  will  grant  these  two  points.  This  ministry 
is  for  all  the  world,  and  this  ministry  is  to  be  equipped 
for  all  the  world,  country  and  city.  How?  It  is  a 
problem,  not  easy,  and  yet  not  so  difficult  as  to  defy 
solution. 

The  difficulty  very  largely  is  our  own.  We  are  de- 
fining ministry  in  the  terms  of  specialization  sheerly. 
I  am  frank  to  say  that  in  this  I  hold  we  mistake.  But 
must  we  specialize  for  efficiency  ?  Yes  and  no !  Re- 
cently a  questionnaire  came  to  my  notice  on  the  effect 
of  the  present  world  war  on  higher  education.  Al- 
most all  the  educators  felt  that  the  effect  of  the  war 
educationally  would  be  very  great — great  biologically, 
sociologically,  economically,  historically,  and  peda- 
gogically.  That  is,  the  teaching  of  these  subjects 
would  be  shifted  somewhat  owing  to  the  new  condi- 


154  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

tion  caused  by  the  war.  But  no  one  thinks  that 
biology  will  have  changed  its  principle  because  of  the 
war,  or  that  philosophy  will  have  shifted  its  cate- 
gories, or  that  history  will  be  enabled  to  dispense  with 
any  of  its  totality  of  historic  fundamentals.  The 
principles  of  all  these  subjects  abide^ — only  the  emphasis 
shifts.  Is  it  not  just  so  with  the  rural  ministry? 
It  is  rural;  yes, — that  is  merely  locative,  incidental. 
Rural  is  the  qualitative  term  only;  but  ministry — 
that  is  the  determinative,  the  fundamental,  the 
character-giving,  significant  thing.  It  is  a  rural  min- 
istry. That  is  the  application  in  time  and  space.  But 
it  is  a  ministry;  that  is  the  essential  content.  It  is  not 
a  thing  of  shreds  and  patches,  of  township  lines  or 
county  bounds  or  confines  of  a  commonwealth.  This 
rural  ministry  is  really  not  a  rural  ministry  at  all  in 
its  most  cogent  definition.  It  is  only  a  rurally  local- 
ized ministry  of  an  inherently  illocalized  grace. 
True,  it  deals  with  a  situation — the  situation 
and  condition  of  the  century,  the  year,  the  local- 
ity, the  season,  and  all  that.  Granted.  It  cannot 
overlook  the  character  and  condition  of  its  populace, 
whether  miners  or  farmers  or  shopmen  or  schoolmen. 
Certainly  not.  Yet  we  must  insist  that  the  rural  is 
not  the  determining  factor.  That  factor  is  ministry — 
"  the  ministry,"  the  gospel  ministry,  the  ^'  apostolos," 
the  "  sent  one,"  the  ''  karux,"  the  herald,  the  "  an- 
gelos,"  the  messenger;  the  man  who  truly,  like  the 
early  apostles,  goes  out  and  is  quite  confident  that 
"  we  are  witnesses  of  these  things."  So  we  notice 
after  all  the  real  minister  is  not  a  rural  minister;  he 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY        155 

is  a  rural  minister.  It  is  not  the  country  condition 
that  is  the  chief  thing;  it  is  the  human  condition.  Ah, 
yes !  But  the  situation  is  bad,  you  say — ^poor  crops, 
renters,  bad  land,  mean  spirit,  little  cooperation,  gen- 
eral lassitude,  inhibition  of  the  civic  motor  centers. 
A  bad  situation !  Let  us  see.  It  may  be  even  captious 
to  remark  that  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  is  not  said 
to  save  from  a  situation  at  all,  though  it  incidentally, 
doubtless  often,  does  that  also ;  but  rather  to  save  from 
— let  me  say  it — to  save  from  sin.  "  Being  made  free 
from  '  the  situation.'  "  "  You  being  dead  through 
your  '  situation.'  "  "  Where  remission  of  these  is, 
there  is  no  more  offering  for  '  the  situation.'  "  It 
scarcely  sounds  natural,  does  it  ? 

It  is  not  social  service  as  such  the  ministry  con- 
serves, but  a  deeper  thing,  and  one  which  undoubtedly 
results  in  social  service.  The  Old  Testament  speaks 
of  the  poor,  but  Christ  of  ''  the  poor  in  spirit,"  and  to 
them  is  a  kingdom — the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The 
Old  Testament  speaks  of  hunger,  but  Christ  of  ''  those 
that  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness."  "  The 
gospel  is  the  glad  tidings  of  benefits  that  pass  not 
aw^ay.  Its  end  is  redemption  and  not  social  improve- 
ment." This  is  the  characteristic  way  in  which  Adolf 
Hamack  begins  his  treatise  on  the  ''  Social  Gospel." 
No  one  thinks  that  Professor  Hamack  is  theologically 
straitened,  nor  that  he  is  cramped  in  his  definition  by 
dogmatic  presumptions. 

The  rural  ministry,  then,  is  to  be,  and,  by  rights, 
ought  to  be,  prepared  for  its  end.  That  end,  accord- 
ing to  Hamack,  is  redemption. 


156  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

But  this  redemptive  end  has  also  its  corollaries  with 
reference  to  this  life.  There  is  the  quietistic  principle 
— "  Fear  not  " — acquiesce  in  the  leadings  of  God.  But 
the  same  authority  that  commands,  ''  Love  not  the 
world,  neither  the  things  that  are  in  the  world,"  turns 
to  other  men  among  whom  we  live  and  says,  "  Love 
thy  neighbor  as  thyself."  Here  we  have  the  principle 
of  love  as  a  social  regeneration.  "  I  was  hungry,  and 
ye  gave  me  to  eat;  ...  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came 
unto  me." 

H.  A.  Franke,  who  did  Christlike  orphan  work  in 
Halle  in  1694,  received  the  impulse  to  his  world-famed 
work  by  Paul's  word :  "  God  is  able  to  make  all  grace 
abound  unto  you ;  that  ye,  having  always  all  sufficiency 
in  everything,  may  abound  unto  every  good  work." 
The  rural  minister  of  the  gospel  gets  his  cue,  like  the 
rest  of  us,  here.  The  cup  of  cold  water — that  is  for 
the  twentieth  century.  The  social  uplift  necessary 
must  be  given.  But  it  must  be  given  in  his  name,  and 
the  recipient  must  know  it.  The  rural  minister  must 
be  trained  to  see ;  and  hence  must  be  sharp  to  see  the 
need.  He  ministers.  It  is  to  the  man  and  for  the  man 
in  the  country,  but  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  Son  of 
man,  and  with  his  sanction.  It  is  to  the  community 
and  for  the  community,  in  the  power  of  the  kingdom 
of  God. 

Pastor  Wichern,  the  founder  of  the  Inner  Mission, 
so  greatly  helpful  to  Europe  and  America,  puts  it  this 
way :  It  is  "  the  collective  and  not  isolated  labor  of 
love  which  springs  from  faith  in  Christ,  and  which 
seeks  to  bring  about  the  internal  and  external  renewal 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY        157 

of  the  masses  within  Christendom  who  have  fallen 
under  the  dominion  of  those  evils  which  result  di- 
rectly and  indirectly  from  sin;  and  who  are  not 
reached,  as  for  their  spiritual  renewal  they  ought  to 
be,  by  the  established  official  organs  of  the  church. 
It  does  not  overlook  any  external  need,  the  relief  of 
which  can  be  made  an  object  of  Christian  love.  It 
recognizes  the  Christ-bought  and  indestructible  unity 
of  life  in  state  and  church,  in  the  nation  and  family, 
in  all  the  ranks  of  Christian  society,  and  lays  hold  of 
it  with  its  saving  powers.  And  amid  the  extraor- 
dinary and  distorted  conditions  of  the  present,  before 
which  those  in  authority  are  impotent,  and  the  church 
is  silent,  it  distinguishes  the  voice  of  the  people  as 
those  who  ask  for  its  saving  work."  The  rural  min- 
ister must  be  trained  for  this.  Again  Wichern  says: 
"  The  Inner  Mission  is  the  unfolding  and  active  ex- 
ercise of  the  faith  and  vital  powers  of  the  entire  body 
of  believers  .  .  .  for  the  conquest  of  everything  un- 
christian and  antichristian  that  seeks  or  has  found  a 
place  in  the  home  or  community."  Also  for  this  the 
rural  minister  must  be  trained. 

May  I  quote  again  the  Lutheran  Church's  idea  as  to 
how  this  rural  minister  has  to  be  trained, — an  idea 
expressed  in  a  report  adopted  in  May,  191 5,  in  devel- 
oping and  urging  upon  the  church  this  cult  of  the 
Inner  Mission  ?  ''  The  primary  idea  is  the  aim  to 
realize  a  wonderful  vision  of  the  Christian  church — 
one  which  the  present  age  can  well  understand.  It  is 
a  true  vision  of  what  the  church  must  be.  It  is  one 
which  has  been  seen  in  our  country  very  dimly  by 


158  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

institutional  churches,  Men  and  Religion  Forward 
Movements,  social  service,  men's  and  women's  and 
young  people's  societies,  etc.;  but  they  have  been  be- 
holding very  narrowly  and  uncertainly  what  Inner 
Mission  has  for  years  been  seeing. 

"  This  idea  is  to  realize  the  universal  priesthood  of 
all  believers;  to  reestablish  the  primitive  ideal  of  Chris- 
tianity, so  that  loving  service  to  a  needy  world  becomes 
the  manifest  sign  wherever  there  is  a  Christian;  to 
have  the  church  (the  entire  church,  mark  it)  prove  her 
faith  by  her  saving  love.  It  is  thus  the  idea  of  Inner 
Mission  to  put  the  entire  so-called  laity  into  the  Sa- 
maritan attitude  of  vital,  personal  touch  with  need. 
The  prime  aim  must,  therefore,  always  be  congrega^ 
tional  development.  The  unused  strength  of  mem- 
bers is  to  be  developed  and  the  minister  must  be  trained 
for  this.  There  must  be  an  increased  force  of  real 
Christian  ministry  in  every  rural  congregation.  Inner 
Mission's  ideal  is  to  have  the  entire  conscious  church 
in  service.  It  emphasizes  the  constantly  forgotten,  de- 
spised fact  that  it  is  the  church  (not  just  pastors  and 
deaconesses)  to  which  the  commission  is  given  of  car- 
rying out  Christ's  work  upon  earth.  Rural  congrega- 
tions must  more  largely  gain  the  idea  of  personal, 
loving  service  of  men  for  Jesus'  sake.  Inner  Mission 
is  the  church's  endeavor  to  make  real  to-day  w^hat 
Christ  was  in  his  day — a  person  going  about  doing 
good;  it  is  the  Christ  of  yesterday  and  to-day,  going 
about  in  the  person  of  his  members,  applying  the  balm 
of  Gilead  to  the  world's  open  sore,  whether  mental, 
moral,  or  physical — and  always,  as  with  Christ,  for 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY        159 

the  purpose  of  reaching  the  depth  of  the  wound,  sin. 

"  It  is  manifest  thus  that,  were  this  ideal  of  Inner 
Mission  fully  realized,  many  present  institutions  of 
mercy  would  not  be  needed  at  all.  For  instance,  no 
homes  for  orphans  or  for  the  aged  would  be  needed; 
for  every  orphan  and  lonely  aged  person  would  find 
that  some  Christian  household  was  glad  to  provide  in 
its  own  circle  a  loving  home.  No  hospice  would  be 
needed  in  any  city,  for  every  strange  young  man  going 
to  a  city  from  the  country  would  be  welcomed  to  the 
fireside  of  some  Christian  family." 

But  what  has  this  to  do  with  the  training?  Every- 
thing,— for  we  must  first  have  the  diagnosis  and  then 
the  prescription.  Now  then,  we  come  to  the  training 
for  it ! 

At  least  one  fact  is  patent.  There  must  be  certainty 
about  the  thing  which  the  rural  minister  has  to  do  with. 
Principal  Forsyth  says  the  church  has  exchanged  cer- 
tainty for  sympathy.  Mr.  Berle  in  his  Christianity 
and  the  Social  Rage  well  says :  ''  The  prevailing  theory 
of  religious  teaching  seems  to  be  that  the  facts  of  re- 
ligion, and  especially  the  facts  of  biblical  history,  can 
be  preached  in  a  perfectly  dispassionate  way,  and  that 
this  is  religious  teaching.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
this  is  not  religious  teaching,  and  cannot  ever  become 
such.  .  .  .  Mr.  Webster,  in  his  great  speech  on  Samuel 
Dexter,  uses  these  words :  '  He  had  studied  the  Consti- 
tution that  he  might  defend  it.  He  had  examined  its 
principles  that  he  might  maintain  them.  .  .  .  His  in- 
ference seemed  demonstration.  The  earnestness  of  his 
own  conviction  wrought  conviction  in  others.    One  was 


i6o  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

convinced,  and  believed,  and  assented,  because  it  was 
gratifying,  delightful,  to  think,  to  feel,  and  believe,  in 
unison  with  an  intellect  of  such  evident  superiority. 
.  .  .  He  studied  the  Constitution  that  he  might  defend 
it.'  This  is  no  accidental  choice  of  words.  Mr.  Web- 
ster knew  exactly  what  he  meant  when  he  chose  the 
word  '  defend.'  Now  the  teaching  of  religion,  in  a 
peculiar  and  exceptional  sense,  requires  just  this  ele- 
ment. Religious  opinions,  and  especially  religious 
faith,  are  always  in  danger  of  assault  by  the  careless, 
the  unbelieving,  and  the  ungodly.  It  is  notorious  that 
no  opinions  in  this  world  have  to  run  the  gauntlet  of 
indifference  and  hostility  to  the  degree  that  religious 
opinions  do.  Therefore  it  requires,  in  a  peculiar  and 
exceptional  sense,  an  underpinning  of  conviction 
girded  with  weapons  of  defense.  .  .  .  Observe  again, 
if  you  please,  the  vocabulary  which  Mr.  Webster  em- 
ploys in  speaking  of  Samuel  Dexter's  persuasiveness 
in  his  pleading : '  One  was  convinced,  and  believed,  and 
assented.'  Is  not  this  the  language  which  we  habitu- 
ally employ  in  religion?  Is  it  not  the  supremest  pur- 
pose of  all  Christian  teaching  to  convince,  to  cause  to 
believe,  and  to  win  assent?  And  if,  as  Mr.  Webster 
says,  conviction,  namely,  a  position  to  maintain  and 
uphold,  is  necessary  to  secure  these  results  in  the  law, 
how  much  more  true  is  it  in  the  matter  of  religion! 
The  attitude  of  intellectual  catholicity  in  these  matters 
is  the  merest  pretense.  Men  cannot  be  colorless  in 
religion.  Convictions  are  convictions  precisely  because 
they  have  color,  and  are  differentiated  from  other  con- 
victions.   The  idea  that  religion  can  be  taught,  or  that 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY        i6i 

anything  but  the  barest  facts  of  rehgious  history  can 
be  taught,  without  at  the  same  time  having  in  the 
preacher  a  great  passion  to  win  his  hearers  to  his  own 
attitude  of  obedience  and  reverence,  is  as  absurd  as  to 
imagine  that  merely  to  cause  a  sick  man  to  look  at  a 
prescription  is  to  take  effective  measures  for  his 
restoration.  .  .  .  The  objective  point  in  rural  or  city 
religious  instruction  is  to  convince:  that  involves  ad- 
vocacy. Its  purpose  is  to  secure  belief :  that  involves 
conviction.  Its  aim  is  to  gain  assent:  that  involves 
faith  in  the  thing  expounded.  .  .  .  Better  far  inde- 
fensible doctrine  with  a  brave  heart  and  an  unswerving 
faith  behind  it,  than  a  defensible  doctrine  with  a  wa- 
vering, insecure,  dilettante  proclaiming  of  it.  We 
plead  for  conviction  in  teaching." 

But  a  recent  report  of  social  conditions  in  New  Eng- 
land states  that  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  ministers 
were  inadequate  in  general  educational  equipment. 
This  is  to  be  remedied — is  already  remedied — by  the 
focalizing  of  the  attention  of  the  whole  church  upon 
the  vast  importance  of  the  rural  field.  If  the  church 
holds  it  important,  then  young  men  in  the  ministry 
will  do  the  same.  They  will  look  toward  it  buoyantly, 
ardently.  They  will  esteem  what  the  church  esteems. 
But  the  minister  holds  the  key  to  the  situation.  He 
must  beget  a  new  rural  consciousness,  a  new  unity  and 
community.  He  must  deepen  the  sense  of  the  church's 
mission,  life,  ideals,  service,  and  sacrifice.  He  must 
raise  the  church's  estimate  of  itself,  of  its  local  power, 
because  it  is  a  church.  The  rural  ministry  must  get 
the  country's  strong  men,  its  stored-up  vitality,   its 


i62  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

reserves  of  energy,  and  its  independence,  and  hook 
them  up  in  and  for  the  gospel.  But  how  ?  First,  the 
rural  ministry  must  have  a  native  strength — no  cheap 
men,  no  lov^-grade  men  for  the  rural  church.  No 
low-grade  men  for  the  church  anywhere;  in  any  event, 
not  in  this  time  of  ours.  Our  rural  minister,  fitted 
naturally,  must  be  further  fitted  by  a  general  the- 
ological education,  a  theological  education  of  the 
twentieth  century,  but  still  a  theological  education,  and 
not,  preeminently,  any  other.  For  the  minister  must 
be  equipped  in  the  field  of  the  spirit;  that  is  his 
specialty.  "  On  its  divine  side  it  includes  God  in 
Christ;  on  its  human  side  the  soul.  From  the  near 
view  it  is  concerned  with  the  commonplaces  of  conduct 
and  character;  from  the  far  view  with  the  mysteries 
of  immortality  and  revelation."  And  hence  the  min- 
ister must  have  a  wide  range  of  knowledge,  for  all 
problems  are  included  in  his  function  in  the  country 
as  well  as  in  the  city. 

The  rural  minister  is  to  be  trained  to  be  a  preacher. 
Phillips  Brooks  has  said  that  preaching  is  "  the  com- 
munication of  truth  by  man  to  man.  It  has  in  it  the 
two  elements,  truth  and  personality."  The  rural  min- 
ister must  have  both.  The  training,  therefore,  must 
consist,  first,  in  that  natural  selection  which  will  find 
and  develop  proper  personalities — men  who  under- 
stand the  quality  of  the  task  and  are  not  daunted 
thereby;  and,  second,  in  the  injection,  if  you  please, 
into  these  ministerial  workmen  the  graces  of  the  gos- 
pel, that  is,  the  present-day  applications  of  an  abiding 
grace.     In  other  words,  they  must  have  that  training 


TRAINING  FOR  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY        163 

which  will  hold  them  to  the  distinctly  spiritual  point 
of  view. 

May  I  here  append  a  most  expressive  excerpt  from 
a  recent  widely  read  periodical  ?  "  There  are  certain 
spheres  of  influence  in  which  a  minister  is  at  a  dis- 
count because  of  his  professional  standing.  But  he 
is  not  thereby  shut  out  from  a  part  in  the  development 
of  modern  society.  Jesus  did  not  legislate  by  specific 
acts,  regulations,  and  by-laws,  but  by  the  proclamation 
of  determinative  principles.  Those  principles  are  as 
applicable  to-day  as  they  were  sixty  generations  ago. 

"  It  is  the  minister's  privilege  to  show  the  relevance 
of  those  principles  to  modern  life;  to  bring  them  to 
bear  upon  such  problems  as  local  option,  factory  regu- 
lation, child  labor,  workmen's  compensation,  capital 
and  labor,  trade  competition,  penology,  and  a  hundred 
kindred  themes.  If  he  can  lay  the  divine  compulsions 
of  such  principles  upon  the  men  who  fall  within  his 
pastoral  domain,  he  will  have  become  a  social,  civic, 
and  political  power  of  the  first  order  without  jeopardiz- 
ing his  influence  by  plunging  into  a  game  for  which 
he  has  had  no  training  and  to  which  he  cannot  give 
adequate  time  without  sacrificing  his  own  unique  re- 
sponsibilities and  privileges.  The  minister's  chief  op- 
portunity, therefore,  lies  in  filling  his  lay  units — men, 
women,  and  children — with  the  ideals  and  enthusiasms 
of  righteousness,  that  they  may  carry  the  gospel  in- 
carnate into  every  engagement  and  relationship  of 
every  day, 

''  Now  if  the  clergyman  can  flood  the  souls  of  men 
and  women  with  the  life  of  God,  all  the  problems  of 


i64  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

the  church  will  be  mere  minor  affairs;  just  questions 
of  methods  and  mechanics  of  application.  The 
standard  of  the  minister  to-day  is  to  keep  his  people 
in  touch  with  the  Source  of  spiritual  energy,  and  thus 
make  the  spasmodic,  forlorn-hope  revivalistic  cam- 
paign superfluous.  When  men  and  women  are  athrob 
with  divine  motives,  they  will  quickly  find  effective 
modes  of  expression,  and  the  church  will  serve  the 
community  in  many  forms  of  constructive,  social,  civic, 
and  ameliorative  service.  It  is  the  deliberate  opinion 
of  those  who  have  studied  the  church  most  carefully, 
from  both  the  inside  and  the  outside,  that  its  problem 
is  qualitative  rather  than  quantitative,  an  organic  ques- 
tion rather  than  a  question  of  organization." 
Very  well,  then,  we  will  train  for  this ! 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  RURAL 
MINISTRY 

W.  K.  Tate 

In  the  admirable  report  just  presented  by  the  Com- 
mittee I  find  this  thought  which  I  shall  use  as  my  text : 
"  The  main  perils  of  the  country  minister  are  intel- 
lectual indolence  and  stagnation,  and  if  he  is  to  escape 
these  perils  he  must  be  his  own  guardian  and  guide." 
I  should  modify  the  sentence  to  read  as  follows:  The 
main  perils  of  the  country  minister  are  intellectual 
indolence  and  stagnation  and  a  failure  to  interpret  the 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY       165 

message  of  Christ  in  terms  of  rural  life;  if  he  is  to 
escape  these  perils,  he  must  catch  a  new  vision  of  the 
country  and  must  have  a  different  sort  of  education 
from  that  which  he  has  received  in  the  past. 

It  is  conceivable  that  any  kind  of  education  to  which 
a  man  earnestly  devotes  his  energies  might  give  him 
the  capacity  of  persistent  mental  toil,  might  cultivate 
his  powers  of  observation,  reflection,  and  insight,  might 
produce  what  we  ordinarily  call  a  well-disciplined 
mind,  and  might  give  to  the  possessor  a  keen  relish 
for  intellectual  pursuits  related  to  his  field  of  study. 
It  is  difficult,  however,  to  think  of  intellectual  mo- 
mentum generated  in  a  special  realm  of  ideas  as  able 
to  project  itself  into  an  unfamiliar  realm  dominated 
by  strange  ideas  and  to  continue  there  its  energy  in- 
definitely. The  education  which  we  have  been  giving 
our  ministers  has  not  intellectualized  the  country  en- 
vironment and  activity. 

I  once  knew  a  Jewish  scholar  who  came  over  from 
Russia  to  America.  He  was  well  educated  in  the  lan- 
guage and  lore  of  his  people.  By  chance  he  was 
thrown  into  a  commercial  community  into  whose  ac- 
tivities he  could  not  enter  with  knowledge  or  sympathy. 
Deprived  of  the  impulse  of  old  associations,  his 
scholarly  habits  gradually  disintegrated  without  a  cor- 
responding adaptation  of  mental  life  to  new  stimuli. 
The  result  was  stagnation  and  decay.  This  is  a 
common  tragedy  among  our  immigrant  population. 
The  minister  trained  in  the  ordinary  theological  sem- 
inary who  goes  to  a  coimtry  charge  is  in  like  manner 
an  immigrant  into  conditions  which  his  course  of 


i66  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

study  does  not  enable  him  to  interpret  intellectually. 
In  the  city  he  is  associated  with  men  of  similar  training 
in  an  intellectual  world  where  symbols  are  not  habitu- 
ally reduced  to  hard,  plain  realities,  where  checks,  com- 
mercial, intellectual,  and  spiritual  pass  freely  at  face 
value  and  the  substantial  gold  is  rarely  demanded.  In 
this  environment  he  is  able  to  maintain  a  certain  con- 
tinuity in  mental  life  which  at  least  conceals  the  evi- 
dences of  bankruptcy.  When  he  goes  back  to  the 
country,  however,  he  enters  a  world  in  which  his 
scholastic  counters  are  not  accepted  as  coin  of  the 
realm.  The  gradual  retirement  of  these  counters  from 
circulation  we  call  mental  stagnation;  "  the  indisposi- 
tion or  inability  to  acquire  a  capital  of  solid  realities 
based  on  the  eternal  facts  of  nature  and  life,  we  call 
"  indolence." 

We  are  not  surprised  at  the  discomfort  of  such  a 
man  in  the  country.  For  years  he  has  lived  in  the 
world  of  Moses,  Isaiah,  and  St.  Paul,  in  a  laudable 
effort  to  discover  the  spiritual  message  of  the  ages. 
He  has  studied  the  customs,  philosophies,  and  lan- 
guages of  ancient  peoples  as  the  media  through  which 
divine  truth  has  been  revealed  to  man.  Gradually  he 
comes  to  live  in  this  ancient  world;  it  becomes  his 
source  of  story  and  illustration;  his  speech  is  filled 
with  conventional  phrases  taken  from  its  literature, 
phrases  which  were  once  pregnant  with  meaning  but 
are  now  empty  symbols.  He  forgets  that  the  truth, 
to  become  vital  in  the  lives  of  modern  farmers,  must 
be  delivered  to  them  in  the  living  language  of  today. 
How  otherwise  can  it  be  recognized  as  a  message? 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY        167 

We  forget  too  easily  that  the  entire  hfe  and  teaching 
of  the  Master  Teacher  were  a  protest  and  a  revolt 
against  formalism,  tradition,  and  ritualism  in  religion 
and  a  statement  of  eternal  truth  in  the  every-day  lan- 
guage of  his  hearers.  They  ''  were  astonished  at  his 
teaching :  for  he  taught  them  as  one  having  authority, 
and  not  as  their  scribes." 

The  country  preacher  must  know  the  country  and 
country  people.  As  he  walks  by  the  wayside  the 
plants,  the  flowers,  the  birds,  the  insects,  the  crops, 
and  the  people  must  appeal  to  his  eyes  and  his  ears. 
The  flower  in  the  crannied  wall  and  the  stars  overhead 
must  help  reveal  God  and  man.  The  commonplace 
things  around  him  must  suggest  thought  and  prevent 
mental  stagnation  and  indolence.  Christ  delivered  his 
message  to  farmers  in  terms  of  their  farm  activities. 
The  sower  who  went  forth  to  sow,  the  grain  of  mus- 
tard seed,  the  wheat  and  the  tares,  the  sheep  that  had 
gone  astray,  and  all  the  other  matchlessly  simple  stories 
of  the  Kingdom  conveyed  truth  to  farmers  in  the  lan- 
guage of  farm  life.  If  he  were  to  speak  a  personal 
message  to  American  farmers  to-day,  he  would  doubt- 
less deliver  these  truths  in  terms  of  silos,  crop  rotation, 
animal  husbandry,  seed  selection,  cooperation,  and  the 
other  facts  of  modern  agriculture. 

The  training  of  the  country  minister  should  include 
the  following:  (i)  the  sciences  underlying  farm  life, 
especially  the  biological  sciences;  (2)  enough  agricul- 
ture to  allow  the  free  use  of  this  subject  as  a  source 
of  illustration;  (3)  constructive  rural  sociology;  (4) 
rural  recreation;  (5)  a  study  of  the  changing  ideals  of 


i68  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

rural  education;  (6)  rural  economics,  especially  as  it 
relates  to  community  organization. 

These  subjects  should  be  included  in  the  course 
even  if  their  inclusion  should  make  necessary  the  elim- 
ination of  Greek,  Hebrew,  comparative  religion,  or 
other  subjects  which  are  now  a  part  of  the  theological 
course.  That  the  old  course  of  training  for  ministers 
does  not  meet  country  needs  is  evident  from  the  fact 
that  the  churches  which  have  insisted  most  strongly  on 
an  educated  ministry  have  all  but  disappeared  from 
the  country.  The  type  of  education  which  the  min- 
ister received  really  unfitted  him  for  rural  service  and 
left  this  field  to  denominations  which  are  less  exact- 
ing in  their  educational  demand.  The  trouble  has  been 
not  too  much  education  but  the  wrong  kind. 

The  church  and  the  school  are  the  two  social  institu- 
tions of  the  country.  These  two  institutions  must 
divide  between  them  the  field  which  in  the  city  would 
be  parceled  out  among  a  dozen  social  organizations. 
The  training  of  the  country  minister  must  be  much 
broader  and  more  general  than  that  required  of  the 
city  preacher.  His  activities  must  be  much  more 
varied.  In  assuming  some  of  these  new  duties  the 
church  has  numerous  precedents.  The  Roman  Cath- 
olic priest  was  the  original  farm  demonstration  agent 
in  America.  The  church  has  always  exercised  some 
supervision  over  amusement  and  recreation.  The  rural 
clergyman  in  Ireland,  in  Denmark,  and  in  Germany  is 
usually  the  leader  in  the  great  cooperative  movement 
which  has  revolutionized  rural  life  in  those  countries. 
The  country  church  is  the  primary  source  of  church- 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  RURAL  MINISTRY        169 

membership  both  for  country  and  city;  that  church  will 
survive  which  trains  its  ministers  to  meet  the  new  con- 
ditions which  now  confront  rural  life  in  America. 

The  country  church  not  only  needs  preachers  who 
appreciate  country  life  and  who  are  especially  trained 
to  work  in  country  communities,  but  it  also  needs  in- 
telligent lay  workers  and  teachers  who  have  been  espe- 
cially trained  for  rural  service.  Evidently  the  training 
of  these  workers  offers  the  finest  field  of  service  for 
the  church  college  in  America.  Many  of  these  colleges 
have  not  yet  found  themselves.  They  are  merely  lib- 
eral arts  colleges  of  the  older  type  whose  aims  are  to 
develop  Christian  character  and  to  disseminate  the 
principles  of  religion.  They  occupy  positions  of  influ- 
ence and  their  patronage  is  largely  drawn  from  the 
rural  section.  If  their  aims  and  purposes  were  made 
more  definite  and  their  curriculum  included  courses  in 
rural  sociology,  rural  education,  agriculture,  rural  eco- 
nomics, and  other  subjects  offering  definite  training  for 
rural  leadership,  they  might  easily  within  fifty  years 
revolutionize  country  life  and  the  country  church  in 
America. 


170  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

FINANCING  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH 

{Report  of  Committee) 

G.  Walter  Fiske,  Chairman,  C.  P.  Dodge,  A.  R. 
Mann,  A.  E.  Roberts,  J.  P.  Sanderson. 

In  studying  this  problem  your  Committee  realize  that 
they  are  confronted  by  one  of  the  two  most  serious  and 
persistent  difficulties  of  the  country  church.  The  trite 
witticism  that  the  rural  ministry  is  "  trying  to  live  on 
earth  and  board  in  heaven  "  is  not  far  from  the  facts. 
How  thousands  of  country  ministers  live  is  a  mystery 
this  Committe  will  not  attempt  to  explain,  for  they 
are  certainly  not  paid  a  living  salary,  a  salary  sufficient 
to  support  a  family.  When  it  is  true  that  the  average 
salary  of  country  ministers  is  less  than  $600,  it  is  seen 
at  once  that  thousands  of  men  must  be  receiving  con- 
siderably less  to  bring  the  average  so  low.  Hod- 
carriers  in  New  York  earn  $900  a  year;  but  in  one 
large  denomination  in  America  the  country  ministers 
are  reported  to  receive  on  the  average  $325.  It  is 
obvious  that  these  ministers  must  supplement  their  in- 
come by  other  work  during  the  week  or  else  depend 
upon  the  labor  of  their  wives  and  children. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  this  report  to  recite  stories  of 
hardships  endured  by  country  ministers,  often  heroic- 
ally suffered  uncomplainingly,  and  shared  by  patient, 
devoted  wives  who  bear  the  burden  even  more  directly 
than  their  husbands.  We  will  not  waste  time  proving 
an  axiom.  The  pitiably  meager  salaries  paid  by  thou- 
sands of  country  churches  are  below  the  level  of  un- 


FINANCING  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  171 

skilled  laborers'  wages,  below  the  minimum  wage  on 
which  a  family  can  be  decently  supported,  and  far 
below  the  level  of  efficiency.  The  primary  question  is, 
Why  are  these  salaries  so  low  ?  A  variety  of  answers 
should  be  suggested.  It  is  fair  to  admit  that  some  local 
churches  are  too  poor  to  pay  larger  salaries.  It  is  true 
that  most  professionally  trained  ministers  are  receiving 
living  salaries  and  that  the  smallest  salaries  are  paid 
the  untrained  men.  It  is  evident  that  there  is  an  over- 
supply  of  untrained  preachers,  and  this  is  depressing 
salaries  just  as  wages  are  depressed  in  any  trade  by  a 
surplus  of  labor.  In  most  denominations  it  is  so  easy 
to  get  into  the  rural  ministry,  with  standards  so  low 
and  requirements  so  meager  that  any  pious  man  who 
has  some  talent  as  a  speaker  can  readily  find  an  oppor- 
tunity to  supply  some  pulpit.  This  is  not  saying  there 
is  an  oversupply  of  ministers.  There  is  a  constant  need 
of  trained  men  everywhere  in  the  country  churches; 
but  there  are  far  too  many  unprepared  and  poorly 
equipped.  There  is  doubtless  a  real  field  for  lay 
preachers.  But  too  many  of  them  have  received  ordi- 
nation with  no  more  than  a  layman's  training. 

Financial  Effect  of  Non-resident  Preaching 

The  chief  reason  for  the  low  salaries  of  rural  min- 
isters is  the  absentee  preacher  system.  We  speak  of 
it  as  a  system  because  it  is  such  a  wide-spread  and  set- 
tled custom.  In  many  parts  of  the  country  the  ma- 
jority of  country  pastors  are  really  not  pastors  but 
preachers  only,  not  living  on  the  land  with  their  people, 
but  in  near-by  villages  or  even  far-away  towns.     In 


172  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

Ohio  only  six  per  cent,  of  country  churches  have  resi- 
dent pastors,  and  the  proportion  is  doubtless  smaller 
than  that  in  most  Western  and  Southern  states.  Very 
many  of  these  non-resident  preachers  are  engaged  six 
days  in  the  week  in  other  employment,  as  teachers, 
students,  lawyers,  insurance  agents,  real  estate  dealers, 
merchants,  and  in  various  other  lines  of  business. 
Even  though  their  service  in  the  pulpit  be  high  grade, 
it  is  usually  simply  Sunday  work,  and  often  covers  but 
three  or  four  hours  altogether,  so  that  the  fee  they  are 
paid  seems  to  the  people  quite  adequate  in  payment 
for  the  service  rendered  and  the  time  spent.  This  ex- 
plains a  great  many  low  salaries.  In  many  cases  no 
special  hardship  is  involved,  for  the  minister  is  a 
tradesman  or  business  man  the  rest  of  the  week  and 
is  presumably  earning  a  living  for  his  family.  This  is 
a  perfectly  honorable  thing  for  him  to  do,  and  we  are 
not  criticizing  him.  But  it  is  poor  policy  for  the  coun- 
try church  to  hire  him  as  a  substitute  for  a  real  pastor 
who  lives  with  his  people.  If  the  church  will  not  pay 
more  than  a  one-seventh  salary,  however,  it  must  be 
contented  with  one  seventh  of  a  minister's  week.  A 
great  many  of  these  absentee  preachers  are  earnest 
men  who  would  gladly  give  all  their  time  to  the  church 
and  community  if  a  fair  support  could  be  assured  them. 
Many  of  them  have  had  several  resident  pastorates,  on 
small  salaries,  but  with  the  growing  needs  of  their 
families  they  have  been  obliged  to  retire  from  the  pas- 
torate and  enter  some  form  of  business.  There  is  a 
constant  and  apparently  an  increasing  leakage  from  the 
ranks  of  the  ministry,  year  after  year,  of  such  men. 


FINANCING  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  I73 

Doubtless  a  man's  first  responsibility  is  to  his  wife  and 
children,  and  if  the  church  will  not  give  him  adequate 
support,  we  cannot  criticize  him  for  giving  up  an  im- 
possible struggle  and  getting  an  honorable  living  as 
best  he  can.  We  see,  however,  in  these  numerous 
cases  a  serious  symptom  which  may  not  be  over- 
looked. 

To  be  sure,  a  large  proportion  of  absentee  preachers 
with  meager  salaries,  or  rather,  with  the  single  day's 
wage,  are  ministers  in  charge  of  a  circuit,  dividing 
their  time  between  two,  three,  four,  or  even  seven 
churches.  This  circuit  system  has  been  too  long  estab- 
lished and  has  had  too  honorable  a  record  in  American 
church  history  to  be  lightly  appreciated.  A  distin- 
guished list  of  faithful  leaders  of  the  church  might 
be  recalled  of  men  who  have  begun  as  ''  circuit- 
riders  "  and  have  rendered  great  service  to  the  king- 
dom of  God.  Unquestionably  in  pioneer  days  the 
circuit  system  was  necessary,  and  it  is  still  required 
for  a  widely-scattered  rural  population;  but  in  the 
large  majority  of  cases  where  it  is  still  found,  the 
circuit  system  seems  to  be  serving  sectarian  interests 
rather  than  community  welfare.  The  circuit  system 
is  not  a  good  thing  for  the  community.  It  is  surely 
better  for  the  rural  community  to  have  one  strong 
church,  uniting  the  Christian  forces  under  the  leader- 
ship of  a  resident  pastor,  than  it  is  to  lack  the  com- 
munity pastor  and  to  have  three  or  four  little  strug- 
gling preaching  stations,  manned  once  a  week  or  twice 
a  month  by  preachers  who  live  elsewhere.  Can  we 
blame  such  a  community  if  it  refuses  to  pay  more 


174  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

than  a  pittance  for  such  meager  service?  Especially 
unfortunate  are  the  cases  where  it  is  evident  that 
services  are  maintained  at  the  little  church  at  the 
cross-roads,  not  because  there  is  any  real  need  there, 
but  because  the  contributions  of  the  little  church  are 
needed  by  the  denomination  to  eke  out  the  salary  of 
the  minister  at  the  village  five  or  ten  miles  away  who 
includes  this  church  in  his  circuit.  Thus  the  open 
country  community  is  exploited  in  the  interest  of  the 
village. 

These  facts  are  cited  simply  to  explain  some  of 
the  reasons  for  the  low  average  salary  of  the  rural 
ministry.  If  statistics  were  available,  we  should  prob- 
ably be  able  to  prove  that  most  ministers  who  are 
adequately  trained  and  are  devoting  their  full  time  to 
the  work  of  a  single  church  are  receiving  a  fairly 
reasonable  support.  Such  ministers  and  churches, 
however,  form  a  very  small  minority  in  the  rural 
church  life  of  America,  particularly  in  the  West  and 
South.  In  general  we  find  the  situation  extremely  un- 
satisfactory both  for  the  ministers  and  the  churches, 
with  really  efficient  service  of  the  country  communities 
all  hut  impossible.  The  large  majority  of  rural  min- 
isters are  making  a  great  struggle  to  care  for  their 
families,  with  inadequate  support,  while  every  year 
the  struggle  is  getting  more  difficult,  and  many  are 
giving  it  up  as  impossible. 

Is  THE  Rural  Ministry  a  Life  Work? 

This  problem  of  financing  the  country  church  in- 
volves the  question  of  the  permanency  and  status  of 


FINANCING  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  175 

the  rural  ministry.  Too  long  it  has  been  lightly  re- 
garded as  merely  a  stepping-stone  to  the  city  min- 
istry, a  temporary  makeshift  for  young  ministers 
while  they  are  making  their  first  blunders  and  experi- 
ments in  the  pastorate.  Some  of  us  have  come  to  feel 
that  the  efficient  ntral  ministry  is  a  specialised  min- 
istry, just  as  the  city  ministry  should  be,  requiring 
some  special  fitness  and  specialized  preparation  and 
adaptation.  //  so,  it  should  be  a  ministry  for  life. 
It  would  be  a  distinct  waste  to  fit  a  man  for  efTective 
rural  work  only  to  have  him  devote  the  years  of  his 
prime  to  the  city  field.  Meanwhile,  earnest  young 
men  who  love  the  country  and  have  heard  the  coun- 
try's call  are  asking,  "  Is  there  a  life-work  for  me  in 
the  rural  ministry?"  Some  of  them  are  making  the 
venture  of  faith  and  propose  to  give  their  life  to  the 
rural  work.  For  many  this  will  be  essentially  home 
missionary  work.  In  one  of  the  oldest  denominations 
in  America  one  third  of  the  ministers  are  home  mis- 
sionaries. Several  large  denominations  are  prac- 
tically all  rural.  Is  it  not  reasonable  to  argue  that 
the  young  man  considering  the  home  mission  field  as 
a  life-work  should  be  respected  as  much  as  his  brother 
who  goes  to  the  foreign  field  for  life?  Is  it  too  much 
to  expect  that  the  church  should  treat  the  home  mis- 
sionary as  well  as  the  foreign  missionary?  Foreign 
mission  boards  guarantee  the  support  of  their  mis- 
sionaries. The  stipends  which  they  pay  them  are  not 
regarded  as  salaries  but  simply  as  support,  and  they 
usually  are  adequate.  This  committee  wishes  to  sug- 
gest the  same  consideration  for  the  country  minister 


176  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

who  enters  the  rural  work  for  life.  If  he  is  a  thor- 
oughly consecrated  and  well-equipped  man,  let  us 
treat  him  as  well  as  we  treat  the  foreign  missionary. 
Let  the  church  sustain  him  and  his  family.  How  can 
any  denomination  be  self-respecting  and  do  less  ? 

Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Finances 
Compared 

And  yet  the  fact  is  we  are  sending  many  of  our 
ablest  college  and  seminary  men  to  the  foreign  field 
and  very  few  of  them  into  the  country  ministry  for 
life.  This  is  partly  because  there  is  a  decent  support 
for  an  educated  man  and  his  family  on  the  foreign 
field,  whereas  the  financial  struggle  is  twice  as  dif- 
ficult in  the  average  country  parsonage.  If  this 
condition  continues  indefinitely,  how  can  we  escape 
getting  a  peasant  ministry  in  our  own  rural  America 
inferior  in  every  respect  to  the  leadership  of 
the  church  in  foreign  fields?  This  is  a  real  menace 
which  threatens  us  at  no  distant  date  unless  organ- 
ized Christendom  in  America  unites  to  solve  this  prob- 
lem of  financing  the  country  church.  Interest  in  all 
phases  of  country  life  is  rapidly  developing.  Splendid 
young  men  in  our  classical  colleges  and  our  agricuU 
tural  schools  are  anxious  to  go  into  the  rural  ministry 
for  life.  But  they  want  a  life  chance.  They  must 
have  a  living  wage. 

The  issue  of  comparison  between  rural  ministers' 
salaries  and  foreign  missionaries'  salaries  having  been 
raised,  a  few  words  more  must  be  said  to  justify  our 
suggestion.    In  raising  the  issue  we  must  not  be  mis- 


FINANCING  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  177 

understood.  We  do  not  believe  any  worthy  missionary 
is  overpaid.  No  one  can  accuse  any  foreign  mission- 
ary board  of  being  too  generous  with  the  men  and 
women  who  go  into  voluntary  exile  for  Christ's  sake. 
The  most  generous  stipends  paid  by  any  missionary 
board  are  none  too  generous;  but  the  fact  remains 
that  they  are  far  beyond  the  salaries  of  the  rural 
ministry.  This  committee  has  courteously  been  fur- 
nished full  statements  by  the  leading  foreign  mission 
boards  of  America  as  to  their  financial  provision  for 
their  missionaries  on  the  field.  We  have  also  ascer- 
tained the  salary  status  in  every  American  foreign 
mission  board  six  years  ago.  In  every  instance, 
though  differing  in  details,  the  policy  is  the  same.  A 
living  salary  is  guaranteed  the  missionary.  Current 
costs  of  living  are  carefully  studied  and  compared, 
in  the  different  fields,  on  the  basis  of  which  a  definite 
sum  is  allowed  an  unmarried  man  or  woman,  a  married 
man  without  children,  and  a  man  with  a  family,  an 
additional  allowance  being  provided  for  each  child. 
All  this  is  thoroughly  reasonable  and  Christian.  No 
church  can  honorably  do  less.  It  would  be  criminal 
to  send  more  young  men  and  women  to  China,  Africa, 
or  Turkey  than  we  can  support. 

And  yet  that  is  exactly  what  we  have  been  doing 
in  rural  America.  Probably  all  denominations,  in 
the  eager  days  of  church  promotion  in  the  pioneer 
development  of  our  country,  started  far  more  local 
churches  than  they  can  adequately  man  with  trained 
ministers  now,  and  are  ordaining  far  more  men  for 
these  churches  than  they  are  able  to  support  with  a 


178  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

living  wage.  We  have  had  too  much  church  expansion 
at  the  sacrifice  of  ministerial  efficiency.  The  cost  of 
it  all  is  the  pinching  poverty  in  the  country  parsonage. 

Comparisons  are  of  course  dangerous  and  never 
quite  fair;  but  making  all  due  allowance,  let  us  com- 
pare the  family  budgets  of  the  rural  minister  and  the 
foreign  missionary.  The  lowest  foreign  missionary 
salary  we  have  been  able  to  discover  now  paid  by  any 
strong  church  board  to  an  ordained  married  man  is 
$900  in  a  station  in  Africa;  but  in  addition  to  this 
"  basal  salary  "  he  is  given  an  extra  allowance  for 
rent,  free  medical  attendance,  and  a  children's  allow- 
ance of  $100  for  each  child  under  ten  and  $150  for 
each  child  between  ten  and  twenty.  The  average  in- 
come of  a  foreign  missionary  is  considerably  above 
this.  One  prominent  board  reports  "  average  total 
salary"  in  Ceylon,  $1,700;  other  parts  of  India, 
$1,500  to  $1,600;  China,  $1,200  to  $1,600;  South 
Africa,  minimum  $1,265,  maximum  $2,500;  Japan, 
minimum  $1,665,  maximimi  $2,500. 

Another  denomination,  paying  very  low  salaries  to 
rural  pastors  at  home,  pays  its  foreign  missionaries  as 
follows:  In  Japan,  basal  salary  $1,400  to  $1,900; 
Korea,  $1,200;  China,  $1,050;  North  China,  $1,200; 
Africa,  $1,000.  In  addition  to  the  above  basal  salaries, 
an  allowance  of  $100  to  $150  is  granted  for  each 
child,  according  to  circumstances.  We  realize  of 
course  the  difficulty  of  making  adequate  comparisons 
of  the  costs  of  living  in  various  mission  fields  and  in 
America.  Opinions  differ  as  to  the  facts.  Missionary 
secretaries  find  it  difficult  to  strike  an  average  in  a 


FINANCING  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  179 

situation  where  butter  costs  seventy-five  cents  a  pound 
but  where  servants  can  be  hired  for  a  few  cents,  or 
from  a  nickel  to  a  dime  per  day.  In  treaty  ports 
abroad,  Hving  is  doubtless  expensive,  but  elsewhere  it 
will  probably  average  cheaper  than  in  America.  Un- 
questionably the  cost  of  living  is  now  rising  in  most 
mission  stations,  and  several  leading  foreign  boards 
are  about  to  raise  their  salary  scale  accordingly. 

These  missionary  salaries  are  all  too  small  when 
one  considers  the  high  character  and  ability  of  the 
men  receiving  them  and  the  high  cost  of  maintaining 
an  American  home  in  foreign  lands;  but  it  is  a  sure 
and  steady  support  for  the  family,  with  old  age  usu- 
ally provided  for.  One  foreign  board  pays  the  mis- 
sionary's wife  an  extra  allowance  of  $400  to  $600, 
and  all  boards  pay  married  men  more  than  single, 
which  is  only  fair  recognition  of  the  wife's  services. 
In  the  home  missionary  field  unmarried  men  are  not 
wanted  at  all;  and,  although  ministers'  wives  are  al- 
ways expected  to  help  earn  the  salary,  who  ever  heard 
of  one  being  paid  for  her  services?  While  living 
abroad  is  expensive  in  the  mission  stations,  domestic 
service  is  plentiful  and  very  cheap,  whereas  the  home 
missionary's  wife  can  seldom  afford  such  a  luxury  as 
any  sort  of  servant.  The  foreign  missionary  allow- 
ance of  $100  to  $200  for  each  child  is  small  compensa- 
tion for  the  great  tragedy  of  the  missionary's  home, 
the  separation  of  the  family  when  the  children  have 
to  go  home  to  America  to  be  educated.  But  the 
tragedy  in  the  rural  minister's  home  is  sometimes  more 
serious  than  that.     He  is  usually  forced  to  live  where 


i8o  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

the  schools  are  poor,  often  where  there  is  no  high 
school;  and  he  has  no  income  to  educate  his  children 
away  from  home.  Consequently  he  must  go  to  an- 
other field  or  find  other  work;  otherwise,  as  frequently 
happens,  his  children  grow  up  with  less  educational 
advantages  and  a  poorer  start  in  life  than  their  father, 
and  so  the  social  status  of  the  family  is  lowered  in 
the  next  generation.  Hundreds  of  rural  pastors  are 
pleading  for  a  change  of  pastorate  so  that  they  can 
provide  better  school  privileges  for  their  children. 
For  this  vital  reason  many  leave  the  rural  ministry 
altogether. 

A  Living  Salary  for  Country  Pastors 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  how  much  more 
considerately  the  great  churches  have  provided  for 
their  foreign  missionaries  than  they  have  for  their 
home  missionaries.  Yet  all  they  have  done  for  the 
foreign  missionary  is  to  furnish  him  a  living.  We 
plead  for  a  living  salary  for  the  rural  pastor.  This 
committee  sent  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  representa- 
tive men,  vitally  interested  in  rural  welfare,  including 
all  the  members  of  this  Federal  Council  Commission 
on  the  Church  and  Country  Life,  the  following  ques- 
tion :  "  Should  country  pastors  be  guaranteed  at  least 
the  '  minimum  wage  '  ?  "  (meaning  of  course  an  income 
on  which  the  average  American  family  of  five  can 
live) .  Only  one  emphatic  negative  was  received,  and 
that  from  a  country  minister  who  said,  "  Some  of  us 
are  not  worth  $.85  a  year.'*  Another  minister  said, 
"  I  doubt  it.     Some  get  all  they  are  worth."    A  large 


FINANCING  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  i8i 

number  of  replies  favor  the  adoption  of  the  minimum 
salary  for  pastors  as  a  matter  of  simple  justice,  the 
figures  suggested  varying  from  $750  to  $1,000.  One 
conspicuously  successful  country  minister  suggests: 
"  I  am  sure  that  no  country  pastor  can  support  a 
family  and  do  efficient  work  on  less  than  the  '  mini- 
mum wage  '  of  $750,  though  I  do  not  like  to  call  it 
a  wage.  I  think  a  minister's  living  should  be  on  an 
average  with  his  people.  As  that  varies  in  different 
localities,  it  is  difficult  to  standardize  it  in  terms  of 
money."  A  distinguished  member  of  our  Commission 
suggests  that  the  minister's  income  should  not  be  less 
than  that  of  the  local  school  principal  or  superin- 
tendent, when  the  two  men  are  "of  equal  character, 
education,  and  experience."  A  similar  suggestion 
comes  from  several,  that  the  minister's  salary  should 
be  on  a  par  with  that  of  married  teachers,  doctors, 
and  other  professional  men  in  the  community. 

The  root  of  the  matter  is  tapped  by  this  reply  from 
a  general  superintendent  on  the  Pacific  coast :  ''  I  be- 
lieve in  country  pastors  being  guaranteed  not  less 
than  a  minimum  salary,  providing  there  may  be  se- 
cured in  return  a  fixed  level  of  eiHciency."  This 
touches  the  weak  spot  in  the  rural  ministry.  It  cannot 
be  denied  that  standards  of  efficiency  are  low  and  that 
any  sort  of  a  guaranty,  universally  applied,  would  be 
a  reckless  policy,  unless  standards  of  preparation  and 
of  service  can  be  raised.  It  is  possible  for  closely 
organized  denominations  to  set  a  standard  for  their 
local  churches;  and  likewise  home  missionary  boards 
can  decide  upon  the  minimum  salary  they  will  guar- 


i82  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

antee  their  pastors.  This  is  already  done  in  some 
quarters,  and  where  the  boards  can  guide  the  selec- 
tion of  the  men,  it  is  just  as  feasible  as  in  the  case 
of  the  foreign  boards.  But  self-supporting  churches 
will  continue  to  select  their  own  pastors  and  deter- 
mine their  own  salaries.  They  will  not  brook  dicta- 
tion, and  least  of  all  on  this  question  of  finance.  The 
campaign  that  wins  with  them  must  be  a  campaign 
of  education.  We  must  prove  to  them  that  they  cannot 
afford  to  run  a  cheap  church;  that  efficiency  demands 
a  well-paid  minister  who  can  earn  his  salary;  that  it 
is  easier  to  raise  $i,ooo  a  year  for  a  man  who'  is  worth 
it  than  tO'  pay  $600  to  a  man  who  really  earns  no  more. 
Let  us  advocate  the  simple  justice  of  a  living  wage  for 
live  ministers.  Then  let  us  discover,  through  country 
church  commissions  and  committees  in  conferences  and 
synods,  what  a  respectable  living  salary  in  that  section 
must  be,  and  suggest  this  as  a  minimum  point  below 
which  the  worthy  minister  should  not  be  asked  to  live. 
In  general  the  pastor  should  be  assured  at  least  the 
average  living  enjoyed  by  his  people. 

Yet  in  every  instance  the  pastor  must  prove  him- 
self worthy  of  his  support.  It  would  be  folly  to  take 
away  incentive  by  too  easily  assured  income.  Doubt- 
less it  must  remain  true  that  an  unskilled,  poorly 
equipped  minister  will  receive  an  unskilled  laborer's 
wage.  It  is  probably  fair  that  a  non-resident  preacher 
should  receive  but  one  or  two  days'  pay  per  week.  In- 
efficiency or  laziness  must  not  be  condoned  or  rewarded. 
But  a  concerted  effort  should  be  made  to  safegimrd  the 
family  of  the  worthy  pastor  from  suffering  and  pov- 


FINANCING  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  183 

erty.  The  difficulty  involved  does  not  excuse  us  from 
undertaking  it  if  it  is  just  and  right.  As  one  of  our 
Commission  suggests :  *'  Churches  receiving  stated  aid 
from  mission  boards  may  be  brought  to  accept  a  better 
plan  without  difficulty.  Churches  which  are  attempt- 
ing to  support  themselves  can  probably  be  led  into  it 
through  the  persuasive  influence  of  their  state  organ- 
ization." 

Larger  Salaries  Make  for  Efficiency 

When  the  country  church  honestly  desires  to  do 
more  than  merely  keep  the  church  machinery  going,  it 
is  not  difficult  to  apply  the  efficiency  argument.  It 
never  pays  to  pay  less  than  a  workman  is  worth,  not 
simply  because  of  the  danger  of  losing  him,  but  be- 
cause he  cannot  do  his  best  work.  It  is  folly  to  pay 
less  than  a  living  wage,  for  it  keeps  body  and  mind 
below  par,  incapable  of  maximum  service.  If  a  min- 
ister is  worrying  over  money  matters  and  hampered  by 
family  cares  and  actual  hardships,  how  can  he  preach 
vital,  inspiring  sermons  or  radiate  strength  and  hope- 
fulness in  his  parish  work  ?  Sometimes  a  minister,  on 
the  point  of  leaving  a  pastorate  because  he  must  have 
a  larger  income  for  his  growing  family,  is  kept  a  year 
longer  by  a  salary  increase  of  $100.  It  makes  it  possi- 
ble for  him  to  stay  and  to  accomplish  results  that  no 
other  man  could  accomplish.  In  this  way  he  reaps  the 
results  of  his  own  faithful  sowing,  so  that  his  third 
year  is  more  effective  than  the  previous  two.  Larger 
salaries  make  possible  longer  pastorates  and  far  greater 
efficiency.     More  fundamental  still  is  the  undoubted 


i84  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

fact  that  success  must  be  deserved,  and  appreciation  is 
the  reward  of  real  service.  When  the  country  church 
becomes  more  definitely  and  concretely  a  community- 
serving  church,  it  is  more  appreciated,  and  the  farmers 
pay  for  what  they  believe  in.  The  old-fashioned  dis- 
trict school  is  bankrupt,  because  it  does  not  deserve 
much  appreciation  or  support.  The  new  country 
school,  which  really  educates  the  children  for  rural  life, 
is  winning  more  liberal  support  because  it  is  appre- 
ciated. It  is  surely  true  that  a  useful  church  does 
not  die,  and  the  more  it  helps  the  community  the  more 
easily  the  money  is  raised  for  its  maintenance.  We 
need  more  demonstration  churches,  centers  of  com- 
munity service  and  usefulness,  to  prove  that  our  prob- 
lem is  usually  solved  when  the  church  and  the  minister 
make  themselves  indispensable  to  the  community. 

Questions  of  Business  Method 

It  seems  to  be  true  very  generally  that  much  need- 
less financial  weakness  of  rural  churches  is  due  to  poor 
business  methods.  Just  as  church  federations  in  our 
cities  are  helping  to  standardize  the  business  methods 
of  the  city  churches,  it  ought  to  be  possible  without 
serious  difficulty  to  educate  financial  boards  of  the 
country  churches  in  approved  methods  of  church 
financing.  Many  country  churches  are  already  as  sys- 
tematically financed  as  any  in  the  city;  but  in  general 
the  weaker  the  church  the  more  hopeless  the  system. 
The  "  short-haul  on  the  pocketbook  "  is  the  customary 
policy,  usually  by  way  of  the  subscription  paper.  The 
annual  budget  system,  the  every  member  canvas,  some 


FINANCING  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  185 

regular  and  adequate  system  of  income,  such  as  con- 
tinuous or  annual  pledges,  with  definite  and  regular 
payments,  a  simple  system  of  accounting,  regular  audit- 
ing, and  public  reports,  will  go  far  toward  toning  up 
not  only  the  finances  but  also  the  spiritual  life  of  the 
church,  as  the  two  are  so  vitally  connected.  The 
science  and  art  of  church  financing  is  something  which 
can  and  should  be  taught.  Many  churches  do  not 
seem  able  to  discover  it  without  help.  A  traveling 
auditor  or  financial  expert  representing  the  state  office 
of  the  denomination  could  render  great  assistance. 
This  service  is  being  done  quite  generally  already  by 
district  superintendents  and  state  officials  in  some  de- 
nominations; but  regular  auditing  or  anything  savor- 
ing of  outside  supervision  would  be  delicate  business 
in  many  of  our  independent  churches. 

More  Vital  Rural  Religion 

In  all  this  consideration  of  ways  and  means  the 
primary  fact  will  not  be  lost  sight  of,  that  the  funda- 
mental difficulty  is  not  one  of  method  but  of  life  itself. 
The  country  church  needs  its  religion  vitalized  and 
made  more  unselfish.  The  great  motives  underneath 
the  life  of  the  church  and  its  activities  must  be  taught 
and  emphasized.  The  whole  level  of  this  subject  of 
church  finances  must  be  raised.  It  must  be  rescued 
from  its  sordidness  and  selfishness  and  be  spiritualized. 
The  doctrine  of  Christian  trusteeship  must  be  accepted 
by  Christian  people.  Not  merely  self-denial  but  the 
joy  of  sacrifice  should  be  the  key-note.  People  should 
be  reminded  that  money  given  for  the  support  of  a 


i86  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

real  community-serving  church  is  never  charity,  but 
simply  investment,  for  the  benefit  of  the  giver  himself 
and  his  own  community.  Money  given  for  a  useless 
or  unnecessary  church  is  neither  investment  nor  charity 
but  money  thrown  away.  There  is  no  use  denying 
the  fact  that  thousands  of  country  churches  are  quite 
unnecessary,  because  the  community  was  amply  pro- 
vided with  churches  before  these  churches  ever  came. 
Money  for  such  institutions  is  either  a  dead  waste  or 
an  unjustifiable  luxury.  Yet  vast  sums  are  being 
wasted  in  supporting  such  needless  enterprises.  Rural 
business  men  have  a  right  to  refuse  to  support  such 
churches  and  to  focus  their  support  on  such  churches 
as  are  actually  efficient  in  community  service. 

In  a  representative  assembly  like  this,  holding  such 
diverse  views  on  church  polity,  it  would  be  remarkable 
if  any  report  on  financial  policy  could  be  wholly  satis- 
factory. We  cannot  help  feeling,  however,  that  the 
problem  is  such  a  serious  one,  involving  so  deeply  the 
welfare  of  the  country  churches  everywhere,  that  it 
would  be  a  great  gain  if  this  body  with  its  far- 
reaching  power  of  moral  suasion  could  go  on  record 
as  advocating  a  strong  financial  policy  for  increased 
church  efficiency. 

Your  Committee,  therefore,  in  the  light  of  the  fore- 
going discussion,  beg  leave  to  offer  the  following 
suggestions,  as 

A  Financial  Policy  for  the  Country  Church 

I.  The  welfare  of  every  country  community  de- 
mands a  prosperous  and  efficient  church  at  the  heart 


FINANCING  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  187 

of  the  community  life.  It  deserves  support  in  propor- 
tion to  its  usefulness.  Such  support  is  not  charity,  but 
investment  in  the  community's  welfare. 

2.  If  the  church  is  needed  in  the  community,  a 
worthy  church  building  should  be  provided,  suitable 
for  purposes  of  worship  and  religious  education,  and 
equipped  with  social  rooms  which  can  be  made  broadly 
useful  to  the  community,  as  a  center  of  joyous  social 
life  for  young  and  old.  A  one-room  church  is  usually 
a  poor  enterprise. 

3.  The  church  or  its  board  of  trustees  should  be 
legally  incorporated.  For  trustees  or  financial  com- 
mittee only  men  of  integrity,  tested  business  ability, 
and  willingness  to  work  should  be  selected.  Upon 
their  skill  and  faithfulness  the  prosperity  of  the  church 
will  largely  depend.  They  should  take  pride  in  its 
success  and  should  determine  to  make  it  ''  a  going 
concern." 

4.  A  selfish  church  is  a  failure  and  a  cheap  church 
never  pays.  If  religion  is  worth  having,  it  is  worth 
paying  for,  and  on  a  generous  basis.  For  the  sake 
of  saving  the  boys  and  girls  and  giving  the  young 
people  a  wholesome  social  life  and  making  the  com- 
munity a  safe  place  for  a  home,  the  church  is  worth 
while.  For  Christ's  sake  and  the  sake  of  humanity 
the  church  stands  and  serves,  with  faith  in  God  and 
immortality.  It  should  be  made  worthy  of  the  loy- 
alty and  whole-hearted  support  of  the  country  people, 
on  a  self-respecting  basis. 

5.  A  better  paid  ministry  makes  for  efficiency.  It 
is  easier  for  most  churches  to  raise  $1,200  for  a  man 


i88  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

who  really  earns  it  than  to  pay  $700  to  an  inferior 
man;  and  that  difference  in  salary  makes  possible  a 
better  educated  pastor,  a  longer  pastorate,  with  more 
permanent  results.  A  live  minister  deserves  a  living 
salary.  It  should  at  least  give  him  as  adequate  a 
living  for  his  family  as  the  average  cultured  home  in 
the  community  enjoys. 

6.  One  local  pastor  living  with  his  people  is  worth 
more  to  the  community  than  three  preachers  whose 
homes  are  elsewhere.  The  community  needs  preach- 
ing, but  it  must  have  life-sharing.  It  can  afford  to 
sacrifice  much  to  unite  its  Christian  forces  and  main- 
tain one  strong  church  with  a  well-paid  pastor,  paying 
for  the  whole  time  of  a  live  man  who  shall  be  a  com- 
munity leader,  not  a  visitor. 

7.  Country  churches  should  adopt  a  businesslike 
vSystem  of  finance.  An  annual  budget  should  be  care- 
fully prepared  in  advance  and  an  "  every  member  can- 
vass "  be  made  to  meet  it.  The  pledge  system  with 
weekly  or  monthly  payments  furnishes  a  regular  basis 
for  church  support  which  is  steadier  and  usually  more 
generous  than  the  subscription  paper.  Paid  suppers 
and  entertainments  for  revenue,  though  valuable  in 
moderation  and  for  social  purposes,  are  poor  de- 
pendence for  church  support.  Direct  giving  is  always 
the  cheapest  policy. 

8.  To  keep  church  finances  steadily  ef^cient  pub- 
licity is  desirable,  with  regular  quarterly  reports  to  the 
people,  and  annual  reports  to  the  presbytery  or  district 
association.  Regular  auditing,  quarterly  or  annually, 
by  church  authorities  at  state  headquarters,  furnishes 


FINANCING  THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  189 

a  wholesome  incentive  and  helps  the  local  officials  to 
keep  abreast  of  the  most  recent  methods  of  successful 
church  work. 

9.  The  spiritual  welfare  of  a  church  is  closely  re- 
lated to  its  financial  self-respect,  and  its  vital  religion 
will  grow  with  its  generosity.  Even  the  weaker 
churches  should  have  some  share  in  the  world-wide 
work  of  missions  and  should  strive  to  meet  their  ap- 
portionment, adopting  it  definitely  as  a  part  of  their 
regular  budget. 

10.  If  the  resources  of  the  community  warrant  it, 
every  church  should  speedily  grow  to  self-support.  If 
the  help  of  a  home  mission  board  is  continuously 
necessary,  it  may  suggest  that  the  church  itself  is  not 
needed  in  a  community  that  will  not  support  it.  Per- 
haps for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  welfare  of  the  com- 
munity it  should  unite  with  a  neighboring  church.  In 
case  of  actual  poverty  in  the  community  the  problem 
of  developing  local  resources  should  be  vigorously 
studied,  as  the  basis  of  future  prosperity  and  com- 
munity self-respect. 

Continuation  Work  Suggested 

Your  Committee  feel  that  they  have  been  able  to  do 
little  more  than  study  the  causes  of  financial  weakness 
in  the  country  churches  and  discuss  business  aims  and 
standards  of  efficiency.  There  is  much  continuation 
work  which  should  be  done.  We  would  suggest  that 
the  following  lines  of  investigation  be  pursued  the 
coming  year : 

I.    To  gather  further  data  as  to  the  possibilities  of 


190  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

a  life  service  for  fully  trained  men  in  the  country  min- 
istry with  the  idea  that  such  a  ministry  may  be  made 
a  specialized  field  of  Christian  leadership  with  adequate 
support  for  a  growing  family. 

2.  To  study  the  cost  of  living  in  different  rural 
sections  of  the  country  for  the  purpose  of  determining 
the  actual  living  salary  required  for  an  average  family 
of  five. 

3.  To  correspond  with  church  extension  boards  and 
home  missionary  societies  of  various  denominations,  to 
discover  their  basis  of  assisting  rural  churches,  their 
policy  of  cooperation  with  other  boards,  and  the  basis 
on  which  their  aid  is  withheld;  also  to  gather  data 
concerning  the  effect  of  this  home  mission  policy  upon 
the  rural  communities  involved. 

4.  To  discover  to  what  extent  denominations  and 
home  mission  boards  have  already  standardized  rural 
ministers'  salaries  and  on  what  basis;  also  to  find  out 
what  efficiency  tests  are  exacted  of  ministers  to  justify 
the  guaranty  of  the  living  salary. 

5.  To  collect  and  standardize  the  financial  sugges- 
tions of  the  rural  church  commissions  of  the  various 
denominations  and  to  report  the  most  successful  plans 
of  country  church  financing. 


COUNTRY  CHURCH  IN  THE  SOUTH     191 

THE  COUNTRY  CHURCH  IN  THE  SOUTH 
W.  H.  Mills 

It  is  a  message  of  good  cheer  that  I  bring  to  this 
Conference  from  the  far  South. 

The  country  church  in  the  South  has  suffered  as  else- 
where from  the  exodus  to  the  town  and  city.  It 
suffers  to-day  all  the  evils  of  absentee  landlordism 
and  one  year  tenantry  in  most  aggravated  form.  It 
is  "  troubled  and  perplexed  on  every  side,"  but  it  is 
"not  in  despair";  it  is  "cast  down,  but  not  de- 
stroyed." 

The  country  church  in  the  South  begins  to  realize 
that  new  conditions  demand  new  methods.  It  is  en- 
deavoring to  prove  all  things  that  it  may  hold  fast 
that  which  is  good. 

The  oldest  theological  seminary  in  the  South  At- 
lantic States  is  the  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary 
at  Columbia,  South  Carolina.  It  may  properly  be 
regarded  as  ultra-conservative  in  many  respects,  yet  it 
has  introduced  courses  in  sociology.  Its  students  have 
already  been  addressed  this  year  by  the  State  Com- 
missioner of  Agriculture.  A  series  of  lectures  are 
planned  on  such  subjects  as  "  The  View-point  of  the 
Illiterate  White  Man,"  and  I  myself  have  been  invited 
to  give  five  lectures  there  on  "  The  Country  Church," 
early  next  year.  Ten  years  ago  such  courses  and 
lectures  were  quite  impossible  at  this  seminary. 

The  Atlantic  Theological  Seminary  ^  has  also  given 

^  Of  the  Congregational   Church. 


192  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

me  the  privilege  of  addressing  its  students  on  the  same 
subject  at  a  conference  to  be  held  there  in  the  same 
month.  I  believe  it  may  be  truly  said  that  every  the- 
ological seminary  in  the  South  is  responding  to  the 
feeling  abroad  in  the  whole  church,  which  demands 
investigation  into  the  underlying  causes  of  present  con- 
ditions, and  which  culminates  in  just  such  conferences 
as  this,  but  upon  a  smaller  scale. 

The  agricultural  colleges  and  state  universities  are 
also  feeling  and  answering  this  demand.  Clemson 
Agricultural  College,  the  State  Agricultural  and  Me- 
chanical College  of  South  Carolina,  was  the  first,  so 
far  as  I  know,  in  the  South  to  enter  actively  and  sys- 
tematically upon  the  assistance  of  the  country  church 
by  every  means  in  its  power.  It  held  a  conference  on 
the  country  church  some  years  ago,  to  which  it  invited 
all  the  ministers  living  in  the  adjacent  counties,  and 
entertained  them  free  of  all  expense.  Last  summer, 
in  connection  with  its  summer  school,  it  arranged  a 
ten  days'  course  for  country  ministers,  and  obtained 
from  the  State  Bankers'  Association  the  promise  to 
pay  the  railroad  fare  of  all  rural  ministers  who  should 
attend.  It  may  not  be  amiss  to  say  just  here  that  this 
course  was  successful  beyond  our  expectations.  The 
ministers  who  came  went  home  saying  that  they  had 
been  greatly  profited,  that  they  would  try  to  return  for 
the  next  summer  school,  and  that  they  would  be 
"  boosters  "  for  it  during  the  whole  year. 

Clemson  College  has  a  mailing  list  of  all  the  min- 
isters in  the  state.  It  has  sent  to  them  letters  begging 
their  assistance  in  the  form  of  prayers  at  farmers' 


COUNTRY  CHURCH  IN  THE  SOUTH     193 

institutes,  and  asking  them  to  further  the  planting  of 
grain  in  the  fall,  and  to  aid  in  the  diversifying  of 
crops.  Thus  the  college  has  suggested  to  every  min- 
ister the  wisdom  and  propriety  of  his  taking  an  active 
part  in  all  that  makes  for  the  agricultural  development 
of  his  community. 

The  college  is  now  considering  the  possibility  of 
adding  a  minister  to  its  Extension  Division,  to  have 
charge  of  its  country  church  work,  to  do  just  such 
work  for  South  Carolina  as  Messrs.  Gill  and  Pinchot 
have  performed  for  New  York  and  Vermont.  Just  as 
the  thoughtful  farmer  turns  more  and  more  to  the 
agricultural  college,  so  the  country  minister  is  begin- 
ning to  find  that  the  agricultural  college  can  help  him, 
and  indeed  is  anxious  to  make  him  more  efficient. 
The  greatest  ally  of  the  country  minister  is  the  state 
agricultural  college,  and  here  and  there  our  ministers 
are  beginning  to  appreciate  its  ready  and  tremendous 
assistance. 

The  church  organizations  are  waking  up  to  the  new 
demands.  The  General  Assembly  of  the  Southern 
Presbyterian  Church  has  officially  declared  that  the 
Assembly  of  19 16  shall  be  known  as  the  ''Country 
Church  Assembly,"  and  has  appointed  a  committee  to 
prepare  a  suitable  program.  Piedmont  Presbytery  in 
South  Carolina  a  year  ago  took  similar  action.  An- 
derson District  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  has  committed  itself  to  a  like  course; 
and  here  and  there  a  church  has  carried  out  the  plan. 
Augusta  Presbytery  in  Georgia  took  like  action  with 
respect  to  immigration. 


194  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

I  am  free  to  say  that  just  now  I  am  concerned,  not 
so  much  with  the  practical  results  of  these  steps  as 
with  the  spirit  in  which  they  were  conceived.  I  re- 
joice heartily  in  this  new  spirit.  I  think  it  is  the  spirit 
of  Christ;  and  from  such  a  spirit  results  are  sure 
which  will  make  the  South  more  and  more  a  part  of 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

The  local  churches  in  all  the  denominations  are  en- 
deavoring more  than  ever  before  to  be  community 
servants.  I  assure  my  hearers  that  the  church  in  the 
South  is  not  behind  the  times.  Of  course  there  are 
many  churches — perhaps  still  a  large  majority — that 
would  have  all  things  continue  as  they  were  in  the  old 
days,  when  the  fathers  fell  asleep.  But  the  leaven  of 
the  new  spirit  of  community  service  is  at  work.  God 
grant  that  it  may  spread  until  the  whole  church  shall 
be  leavened. 

Let  me  give  a  few  illustrations.  Carmel  Church,  in 
Pickens  County,  is  the  oldest  Presbyterian  Church  in 
upper  South  Carolina.  It  had  suffered  the  loss  of  all 
things,  almost,  except  its  building  and  its  cemetery. 
This  year  it  is  taking  on  new  life^ — ^because  it  has 
sought  to  advance  both  the  social  and  the  agricultural 
development  of  the  people  by  the  cultivation  of  a 
church  farm.  The  largest  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
country  in  South  Carolina  is  Bethel,  and  here  a  few 
years  ago  was  organized  an  Improvement  Association, 
whose  members  agreed  to  invite  new  people  into  their 
community  and  sell  them  good  land  on  reasonable 
terms. 

Steel  Creek  Church,  near  Charlotte,  North  Carolina, 


COUNTRY  CHURCH  IN  THE  SOUTH     195 

is  the  largest  country  church  in  the  Southern  General 
Assembly.  It  has  maintained  itself  and  grown  largely 
because  of  the  fact  that  when  a  young  man  of  that 
community  wants  to  get  a  home,  it  has  been  for  years 
the  custom  of  the  officers  of  that  church  to  help  him 
to  acquire  it.  The  pull  of  the  town  can  be  overcome 
when  church  officers  stand  ready  to  back  worthy 
young  men  in  their  efforts  toward  home-ownership, 
not  simply  on  business  principles  but  for  the  sake  of 
both  the  man  and  the  church. 

I  must  hasten  on  to  tell  of  the  efforts  ministers  are 
making  to  be,  in  a  new  sense,  the  servants  of  all.  I 
know  a  minister  of  the  Congregational  Church  who 
has  had  in  his  churches  in  northern  Georgia  a  series 
of  church  and  country  life  institutes;  another  in  South 
Carolina  planned  a  picnic  for  the  whole  community  on 
the  church  grounds,  and  the  speakers  came  from  the 
agricultural  college.  I  helped,  in  August,  191 5,  in  a 
meeting  of  this  sort.  In  the  morning  at  eleven  there 
was  preaching,  after  which  dinner  was  served  on  the 
grounds.  In  the  afternoon  one  day  we  had  a  dairy 
demonstration ;  on  the  next  afternoon  we  had  a  poultry 
demonstration;  and  on  the  third  afternoon  an  orchard 
demonstration,  with  the  introduction  of  the  country 
farm  demonstration  agent  to  the  people  of  the  com- 
munity. On  two  nights  we  had  lectures  with  lantern 
slides  on  community  building.  We  held  all  the  meet- 
ings in  the  church  itself,  and  I  have  met  no  one  who 
thought  that  we  ran  the  risk  of  committing  sacrilege. 

This  is  the  new  idea  that  is  seizing  the  mind  of  the 
church  in  the  South, — that  the  local  church  has  the 


196  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

right  to  live  only  as  it  spends  its  life  in  community 
service.  Some  of  us  in  the  South  believe  that,  if  a 
church  in  the  country  does  not  serve  its  whole  com- 
munity by  making  better  farmers  as  well  as  making 
the  farmers  better,  it  ought  to  die.  We  believe  the 
church  has  a  very  definite  word  to  speak  on  the  tenant 
system  and  landlordism,  as  well  as  on  prohibition  and 
"  worldly  amusements."  We  have  come  to  believe 
that  the  second  great  commandment  needs  to  be  so 
put  into  practice  by  the  church  that  rich  man  and  poor 
man,  white  man  and  black  man,  shall  each  have  equal 
opportunity  to  work  and  live  safely  imder  his  own 
vine  and  fig-tree. 

Finally,  I  beg  to  assure  you  that  "  away  down 
South  in  Dixie  "  we  have  no  new  gospel.  Our  preach- 
ing is  still  the  preaching  of  the  cross,  our  appeal  is  still 
to  the  individual  man  to  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  be  saved,  both  himself  and  his  house.  But 
we  do  ask  with  intensest  desire  that  along  with  this 
evangelistic  appeal  the  church  shall  seek  the  physical 
and  mental  and  spiritual  welfare  of  the  whole  com- 
munity, that  it  may  present  it  in  soundness  and  whole- 
ness before  the  throne  of  God.  So  only  shall  the 
church  be  animated  by  the  spirit  of  the  Master  who 
came  "  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and 
to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many." 


SOCIAL  JUSTICE  IN  RURAL  COMMUNITY     197 

SOCIAL  JUSTICE  IN  THE  RURAL 
COMMUNITY 

Harry  F.  Ward 

I  am  afraid  that  I  cannot  follow  the  last  speaker 
with  an  equally  glowing  account  of  rural  church  prog- 
ress in  this  section.  I  know  of  a  country  church  not 
fifty  miles  from  here  where  the  preacher  put  in  a 
course  of  lectures  by  experts  on  better  farming.  On 
the  first  night  he  found  that  the  sexton  had  left  the 
church  locked  and  dark,  and  he  was  forced  to  break 
a  window  to  get  in.  On  the  second  night  of  the  course 
the  sexton  met  him  at  the  door  and  threw  the  keys  in 
his  face,  telling  him  that  if  the  church  was  to  go  to 
the  devil  by  discussing  such  subjects  he  would  have  no 
part  in  the  iniquity. 

It  is  my  misfortune  that  I  have  been  prevented  by 
other  duties  from  attending  all  the  sessions  of  this 
Conference,  but  it  is  apparent  even  to  a  casual  ob- 
server that  this  Conference  is  committed  to  the  propo- 
sition that  the  church  can  only  find  itself  through  its 
ministry  to  the  life  of  the  community.  Theological 
seminaries  used  to  teach  that  the  church  was  a  place 
where  the  gospel  was  preached  and  the  sacraments 
administered.  In  many  rural  communities  it  is  still 
considered  solely  as  a  place  of  worship.  Sometimes 
even  that  is  not  an  ideal.  A  year  or  two  ago  I  met 
a  young  preacher  who  had  gone  to  a  rural  church  just 
after  its  congregation  had  adopted  plans  for  a  new 
building.     He    found    inadequate    provision    for   the 


198  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

Sunday-school,  the  primary  room  being  in  the  darkest, 
dampest  corner  of  the  basement.  He  urged  a  change 
of  plans  and  was  told,  "  Young  man,  in  our  old  church 
we  could  never  conduct  a  funeral  properly;  there  was 
no  room  to  turn  the  casket  around  and  we  always  had 
to  back  it  out.  Now  we  have  got  a  plan  that  lets  us 
take  the  casket  out  properly,  and  we  are  not  going  to 
change  it  for  anything  or  anybody."  So  they  built 
the  church  for  the  dead  and  let  the  living  go. 

The  term  social  justice  is  a  vague  and  mouth-filling 
term.  It  needs  just  now  to  be  made  concrete.  The 
preaching  of  the  God  of  righteousness  has  developed 
a  certain  amount  of  justice  between  individuals.  It 
must  now  develop  justice  between  the  various  groups 
that  compose  the  community  life;  between  producers, 
middlemen,  and  consumers;  between  the  groups 
engaged  in  agriculture,  manufacturing,  commerce, 
transportation,  mining,  and  personal  service  in  the  pro- 
fessions. There  must  be  no  handicaps  of  special  privi- 
lege for  one  group  involving  disabilities  for  another. 
When  the  prophets  found  the  growing  merchant  class 
in  Israel  encroaching  upon  the  men  of  the  countryside, 
they  thundered  the  wrath  of  God  against  them.  They 
might  pile  high  their  gifts  upon  the  altar,  but  Je- 
hovah's word  was  "  Though  you  make  many  prayers, 
I  will  not  hear  you.  Though  you  stretch  forth  your 
hands  all  the  day  long,  I  will  turn  away  mine  eyes 
from  you."  Why  ?  Because  the  price  of  the  very  giits 
upon  the  altar  was  the  depleted  lives  of  the  men  of  the 
soil  whose  little  landholdings  had  been  taken  away 
under  cover  of  the  law, — duly  signed,  sealed,  and  sane- 


SOCIAL  JUSTICE  IN  RURAL  COMMUNITY      199 

tioned,  but  nevertheless  against  the  righteousness  of 
Jehovah, — to  swell  the  great  estates  of  the  rich  mer- 
chants. While  this  continued,  God  did  not  desire 
temple  worship;  what  he  wanted  was  that  justice 
should  flow  through  the  land  as  a  mighty  stream  and 
fall  down  as  water.  In  the  same  spirit  did  Jesus  con- 
front the  monopolists  of  the  temple  courts.  To  his 
flaming  words  he  added  the  strength  of  his  good  right 
arm,  denying  those  who  secured  special  privilege  to 
tax  the  religious  necessities  of  the  common  people 
any  place  or  part  in  the  house  of  God.  So  to-day 
must  the  preachers  of  the  gospel  thunder  against  any 
group  in  the  community  which  seeks  or  secures  the 
privilege  to  profit  at  the  expense  of  other  groups  or 
of  the  whole  community. 

Social  justice  is  perhaps  easiest  understood  in  con- 
nection with  child  life.  Whatever  else  it  may  mean 
it  can  mean  no  less  than  this — that  all  children  must 
have  equal  access  to  the  things  necessary  for  their 
development.  If  one  group  of  children  have  a  better 
chance  than  another  for  health,  education,  moral  pro- 
tection, and  religious  development,  this  is  fundamental 
social  injustice.  Social  justice  demands  that  the  chil- 
dren of  one  group  in  the  population  shall  have  as  good 
a  chance  as  the  children  of  another  to  develop  the  life 
more  abundant  that  is  the  Christian  ideal.  A  Persian 
proverb  declares  that  when  an  injured  child  cries  in 
the  dark  the  throne  of  God  rocks  from  side  to  side. 
If  any  state  lets  that  cry  go  unheard  and  unanswered, 
the  government  of  that  state  will  soon  begin  to  shake 
to  its  foundations. 


200  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

The  weight  of  social  injustice  that  presses  upon  the 
children  of  a  certain  section  of  the  industrial  wage- 
earners  is  easy  to  be  felt.  The  bitter  cry  of  these  chil- 
dren has  been  coming  up  from  below  until  it  has 
reached  the  ear  of  the  church.  These  children  live  in 
bad  air,  amid  poor  surroundings;  they  are  under- 
nourished and  compelled  to  leave  school  when  half 
educated.  Upon  their  enfeebled  lives  the  organized 
vices  of  the  city  mass  their  attack.  It  is  obvious  that 
social  justice  demands  that  this  group  of  children  be 
emancipated.  The  same  need  exists  for  a  smaller 
group  of  children  in  rural  communities.  There  child 
life  is  not  so  much  destroyed  by  frontal  attacks  as  it  is 
wasted  through  lack  of  development.  In  the  country- 
side there  are  often  undernourishment  and  unsanitary 
conditions,  improper  child  labor,  and  the  denial  of 
education  and  recreation.  The  fact  that  in  the  country 
these  conditions  are  more  largely  due  than  in  the  city 
to  the  ignorance  and  greed  of  parents  does  not  lessen 
the  social  injustice  from  which  the  children  suffer. 
The  program  of  social  welfare  which  seeks  to  give 
equal  opportunity  to  all  child  life  must  be  carried  into 
the  rural  districts. 

Present  tendencies  in  rural  America  are  rapidly 
increasing  the  pressure  of  economic  conditions  upon 
a  section  of  its  child  life.  Two  new  groups  are  grow- 
ing in  the  rural  population  of  this  country — landlords 
and  tenants.  So  rapidly  do  they  grow  that  some 
students  insist  that  we  are  heading  straight  toward 
the  farming  of  large  tracts  of  land  intensively  by  con- 
centrated  capital,   with   hired   men  doing  the  work. 


SOCIAL  JUSTICE  IN  RURAL  COMMUNITY     201 

Passing  through  Iowa  the  other  day,  I  picked  up  a 
paper  and  found  a  statement  by  an  agricultural  au- 
thority estimating  that  one  half  the  population  of 
Iowa  was  composed  of  either  tenant  farmers  or  hired 
men.  The  children  of  the  tenant  farmers  have  not 
an  equal  chance  for  development  with  those  of  the 
landlords.  Even  where  their  educational  privileges 
are  the  same,  they  are  not  as  well  able  to  take  advan- 
tage of  them.  I  was  recently  in  a  rural  community 
where  the  retired  farmers  were  objecting  strenuously 
to  paying  the  tax  required  to  make  the  rural  school 
efficient,  a  school  which  was  to  serve,  not  their  chil- 
dren, but  the  children  of  their  tenants  and  hired  men. 
One  man  even  proposed  that  this  latter  group  should 
not  be  permitted  to  vote  on  school  questions. 

The  continuance  of  the  handicap  upon  the  develop- 
ment of  child  life  involved  in  the  increase  of  tenant 
and  wage  farming  means  that  the  rural  communities 
will  cease  to  supply  men  of  strength  to  the  national 
life.  It  is  the  free  men  of  the  soil  who  have  always 
fought  for  progress.  They  largely  secured  the  lib- 
erties of  England.  They  were  the  men  w^ho  drove 
their  wagons  for  two  or  three  days  to  hear  Lincoln 
and  Douglas  debate  slavery.  They  were  the  men  who 
saw  the  w^ar  through  to  the  end.  When  you  take 
out  of  the  national  life  the  free  men  of  the  soil,  you 
have  taken  out  the  most  of  its  backbone. 

It  is  not  likely,  however,  that  in  the  atmosphere  of 
democracy  in  this  land  we  shall  develop  a  subservient, 
pauperized  peasant  group  such  as  exists  in  England, 
offering  a  background  for  My  Lady  Bountiful  of  the 


202  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

manor  hall.  What  is  more  likely  to  develop  is  a  re- 
bellious group  of  agricultural  workers  and  the  growth 
of  class  hatred  in  the  rural  sections  even  as  it  now 
exists  in  some  quarters  in  industry.  With  the  Indus- 
trial Workers  of  the  World  organizing  the  seasonal 
agricultural  workers,  and  farm  owners  becoming  ab- 
sentee capitalists,  it  looks  as  though  the  conflict  that 
is  developing  in  this  country  between  those  who  re- 
ceive income  merely  from  ownership  of  property  and 
those  who  receive  it  from  service  rendered  would 
gather  strength  in  the  rural  districts.  Already  in  some 
agricultural  regions  the  attitude  of  the  farmer  in  the 
conflict  between  property  income  and  service  income, 
his  attitude  toward  the  seasonal  workers  that  aid  in 
gathering  the  harvest,  is  that  unsympathetic  and  in- 
human attitude  which  is  held  by  some  captains  of  in- 
dustry. Some  recent  brutal  incidents  in  the  labor  con- 
flict have  occurred  in  rural  sections.  The  increase  of 
class  hatred  and  strife  in  rural  America  is  inevitable 
unless  religion  can  stem  the  tide  by  securing  social 
justice. 

Social  injustice  roots  in  economic  inequality,  and 
the  beginnings  of  economic  inequality  are  in  unequal 
opportunity  for  the  ownership  of  the  land.  The  ques- 
tion of  social  justice  in  the  rural  community  is  the 
land  question,  which  is  older  than  civilization.  Our 
religion  never  dodged  it.  From  the  day  of  the  Hebrew 
lawgivers  it  has  developed  a  body  of  teaching  designed 
to  secure  justice  in  land  ownership  and  use.  The 
fundamental  task  for  religion  to-day  in  the  rural  com- 
munity is  to  develop  a  body  of  teaching  adapted  to 


SOCIAL  JUSTICE  IN  RURAL  COMMUNITY      203 

the  present  situation.  If  it  fails  here  no  program  of 
social  welfare  can  be  carried  through.  The  basis  of 
religious  teaching  on  this  question  must  be  the  old 
Hebrew  word  that  "  the  earth  is  the  Lord's  "  (not  the 
landlord's).  The  corollary  of  this  is  that  it  is  to  be 
used  for  the  good  of  all  the  people,  that  it  is  a  com- 
munity inheritance  in  which  all  the  people  of  the  com- 
munity have  a  share.  Another  corollary  is  that  the 
title  to  individual  control  and  use  of  the  land  must 
rest  only  on  the  basis  of  service  rendered  to  the  com- 
munity. If  it  can  develop  a  body  of  religious  teach- 
ing on  the  land  question,  the  country  church  will  be- 
come not  a  local  but  a  world-wide  force.  It  will  reach 
out  and  touch  the  whole  issue  of  the  relation  of  the 
people  to  the  natural  resources  upon  which  all  industry 
depends.  It  will  reach  out  still  further  and  touch  the 
whole  world  life.  For  the  possibility  of  ordering  the 
life  of  the  world  in  security  and  in  peace  depends  upon 
the  recognition  of  the  fact  that  in  the  economy  of  God 
there  are  no  superior  races  or  nations  even  as  there 
are  no  superior  classes;  upon  the  willingness  to  work 
out  a  world-wide  plan  of  social  justice  based  upon  the 
rights  of  all  the  children  of  men  the  world  over  to 
the  earth  and  its  resources  as  the  common  inheritance. 


204  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

THE  CRISIS  OF  ORGANIZED  CHRISTIANITY 

Fred  B.  Smith 

That  man  must  be  dull  indeed  who  fails  to  observe 
the  peril  which  confronts  the  organized  forces  of  the 
Christian  religion  in  this  generation.  So  acute  has  this 
become  that  many  of  the  ablest  students  of  religion 
are  prophesying  the  utter  collapse  of  the  present  order 
unless  some  very  prompt  readjustments  are  made  in 
the  present  system.  This  is  not  an  indictment  of 
Christianity  as  a  truth  or  doctrine.  The  precepts  of 
Jesus  Christ  were  never  so  radiant  with  supreme  ef- 
fectiveness and  practicability  as  now.  Jew  and  Gen- 
tile, Occidental  and  Oriental,  are  alike  turning  to  the 
unequaled  Beatitudes  as  the  only  hope  for  the  present 
world  chaos.  But  where  is  there  an  organization  equal 
to  the  hour  in  the  adequate  application  of  these  ideals? 
is  the  paramount  question.  There  has  never  been  such 
a  solemn  hour  in  the  world's  history  as  the  present  one. 
Can  the  human  family  survive  in  concord  under  the 
strain  of  modern  methods,  which  have  eliminated  time 
and  space  and  brought  into  striking  reach  the  frictions 
of  classes,  races,  and  nations  that  two  decades  ago  were 
remote  enough  to  make  momentary  outbreaks  impossi- 
ble ?  is  the  question  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  thinking 
men. 

A  world  reduced  to  a  neighborhood  demands  a 
common  religion,  and  a  common  religion  it  is  to  have 
very  rapidly.  If  Christianity  is  to  be  the  faith,  its 
leaders  have  no  time  to  lose  in  meeting  one  funda- 


CRISIS  OF  ORGANIZED  CHRISTIANITY       205 

mental  requirement,  namely,  to  present  a  United  Chris- 
tian Organisation.  We  have  to  learn  at  once  to  move 
the  Christian  forces  of  the  world  as  a  compact  unit 
upon  the  new  tasks  or  be  content  to  accept  defeat  at 
the  end  of  the  road.  Segregated  sectarianism  will 
not  win  the  Christian  conquest  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury. Every  modern  problem  before  the  church  de- 
mands unity  in  effort. 

The  present  war,  worse  than  all  the  other  com- 
bined wars  of  the  world's  history,  is  a  fruit  of  divided 
Christianity.  There  was  in  the  world  Christian  senti- 
ment enough,  if  it  had  had  a  method  which  could 
have  brought  its  full  impact  to  bear  upon  the  con- 
tending nations,  absolutely  to  prevent  this  outbreak; 
and  if  the  old  order  is  to  be  continued,  the  same  up- 
heaval will  occur  again,  earlier  or  later.  Not  poli- 
ticians, nor  kings,  emperors,  or  other  rulers,  but  a 
united  voice  of  the  believers  in  the  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  will  some  day  fix  the  standards  of  world's 
peace,  and  this  alone  is  sufficient  to  demand  a  united 
church.  The  extension  of  the  gospel  to  the  non- 
Christian  world  has  been  piteously  slow  in  the  past, 
but  will  be  more  hideously  retarded  in  the  future 
unless  a  united  Christianity  is  called  into  action. 

Every  world  issue  is  crying  for  combined  effort  in 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.  Not  less  insistent  are  the 
demands  within  our  own  shores.  The  refreshing 
streams  of  our  life — economic,  social,  political,  and 
moral — have  from  times  immemorial  flowed  from  the 
countryside  and  the  open  field.  The  church  ought  to 
be  strongest  in  the  rural  places  where  the  genesis  of 


206  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

things  is  to  be  found.  It  is  proverbially  and  horribly 
weakest  there. 

The  cold  denominational  attempt  at  this  problem 
has  proved  a  flat,  ridiculous  failure.  The  hope  of  any 
kind  of  success  in  solving  it  may  be  grounded  only 
in  a  united  Christianity. 

The  task  of  proper,  forceful,  continuous  religious 
education  is  left  undone  up  to  this  date.  We  have 
been  depending  upon  a  thirty-minute  period  per  week 
in  the  Sunday-school  for  a  few  children,  a  smatter- 
ing in  the  home  for  a  yet  smaller  company,  the  pulpit 
for  another  group,  and  an  annual  spell  of  hysterical 
revival  for  the  least  number,  as  means  for  teaching 
the  truths  of  God.  For  the  mass  they  have  failed. 
The  universities  of  every  kind,  the  public  and  private 
schools  alike,  are  awake  and  open-minded  to  this  need. 
A  united  Christianity  can  enter  this  door  and  meet 
the  need.  ''  Fifty-seven  different  varieties  "  will  be 
repudiated. 

The  civic  problems,  the  law  enforcement  issue,  the 
child  life  program,  and,  indeed,  every  vital,  burning, 
compelling  call  to  Christianity  are  of  such  a  nature 
that  the  hope  of  their  successful  handling  is  vain 
unless  there  is  grace  and  genius  enough  in  the  church 
to  evolve  a  plan  by  which  the  forces  can  move  as  a  unit 
with  an  eye  single  only  to  the  kingdom  of  God. 


CHURCH  FEDERATION  AND  COOPERATION      207 

CHURCH  FEDERATION  AND 
COOPERATION 

{Report  of  Committee) 

E.  Tallmadge  Root,  Chairman,  Henry  A.  Atkin- 
son, Lemuel  Call  Barnes,  Anna  B.  Taft,  George 
Frederick  Wells. 

Analysis 
Federation  includes : 

I.    Federation  of  all  Betterment  Agencies. 
II.    Church  Federation,  embracing 

1.  Federation  of  Churches. 

2.  Federated  Circuits. 

3.  Community  Churches. 

(i)   Federated  Churches. 

(2)  Denominational  Churches. 

(3)  Union  Independent  Churches. 

1.  Cooperation  is  a  general  term,  and  federation  is 
used  in  so  many  senses  that  our  first  step  must  be  to 
distinguish  and  define. 

2.  Federation  is  used  in  a  broad  sense,  including 
all  institutions,  civil  or  voluntary,  interested  in  rural 
betterment;  for  example.  The  New  England  Federa- 
tion for  Rural  Progress,  and  similar  organizations  in 
states,  counties,  or  townships.  In  these,  the  churches 
may  and  should  have  a  part,  by  direct  representation 
in  townships  and  through  their  own  Federations  in  the 
larger  territories.  There  is  a  gratifying  recognition, 
on  the  part  of  betterment  movements,  of  the  fact  that 
all  social  problems  are,  in  ultimate  analysis,  moral, 


2o8  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

and  therefore  insoluble  without  the  aid  of  the  institu- 
tions of  religion,  which  alone  can  bring  adequate  mo- 
tives. This  gives  the  church  to-day  an  opportunity 
unsurpassed  in  history.  With  the  proper  attitude,  as 
R.  Fulton  Cutting  has  shown  in  his  Church  and  So- 
ciety, they  may  even  cooperate  with,  and  use,  the 
"  institutions  of  the  democratic  state." 

3.  ''Federation/'  again,  is  applied  to  organizations 
composed  of  churches  only.  The  term  ''  Church  Fed- 
eration "  should  be  strictly  limited  to  organizations  in 
which  churches,  or  their  denominational  conferences, 
are  represented  by  official  action:  no  body  of  indi- 
viduals or  non-ecclesiastical  societies  should  receive  the 
title.  Following  the  analogy  of  our  Federal  Govern- 
ment, Church  Federation  attempts  to  combine  the  max- 
imum unity  of  action  with  the  complete  independence 
of  the  constituent  bodies,  denominational  or  local.  It 
implies  no  endorsement  of  others'  doctrine,  policy,  or 
ritual,  and  no  compromise  of  one's  own.  Relying  on 
practical  motives,  it  seeks  a  pragmatic  unity.  It  thus 
meets  the  obvious  necessity  that  in  every  community, 
commonwealth,  and  nation,  the  churches  shall,  to  the 
maximum  extent  possible,  act  unitedly  in  the  face  of 
the  pressing  religious  and  social  tasks.  There  is  no 
place  where  such  united  action  is  more  needed  and 
promising  than  in  the  rural  township. 

4.  But  here  again,  various  types  and  methods 
must  be  distinguished.  The  end, — combined  action 
of  all  Christians, — may  and  must  be  attained  in 
varying  ways  according  tO'  the  conditions  of  the  com- 
munity. 


CHURCH  FEDERATION  AND  COOPERATION      209 

5.  In  a  township  where  the  population  requires, 
and  financial  resources  can  support,  more  than  one 
church  and  pastor,  that  end  is  to  be  secured  by  a  local 
Federation  of  Churches;  that  is,  a  joint  committee  of 
pastors  and  delegates,  officially  appointed  by  the  sev- 
eral churches,  to  learn  and  meet  all  needs,  religious 
or  social,  which  require  cooperation  or  concerted 
action.  The  simpler  problems  and  closer  acquaintance 
of  its  churches  give  the  rural  township  advantage  over 
the  city,  and  experience  has  already  proved  that,  in 
proportion  to  expenditure  of  time  and  money,  town- 
ship federations  accomplish  the  largest  results  of  any. 
Every  rural  town  with  more  than  one  church  ought  to 
have  such  an  organization. 

6.  In  a  township  where  population  and  resources 
are  inadequate  to  support  more  than  one  pastor,  but 
where  the  population  is  so  distributed  that  more  than 
one  place  of  worship  and  organized  church  is  neces- 
sary, such  a  joint  committee  should  be  organized  and 
a  common  pastor  employed.  This  may  be  called  a 
Federated  Circuit.  Similar  circuits  are  common  in 
some  denominations.  Interdenominational  circuits 
have  been  arranged  in  some  states.  But  wherever 
possible,  they  should  follow  civil  boundaries  so  as  tO' 
secure  the  obvious  advantage  of  a  resident  township 
pastor.  (In  all  types,  it  will  be  noted,  we  assume  that 
organizations  shall  strictly  follow  civil  divisions.) 

7.  What  population  justifies  fully-equipped  sep- 
arate churches?  Here  the  standard  obviously  needs 
to  be  raised.  The  limit  set  by  one  state  federation, 
three  hundred  and  thirty-three  to  a  church,  is  obviously 


210  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

too  low.  With  all  the  growing  demands  of  missions 
and  social  service,  the  churches  are  not  justified  in 
asking  a  trained  man  to  devote  his  life  to  less  than 
one  thousand  souls,  except  where  the  population  of 
an  entire  township  is  less;  or  to  live  on  a  salary  of  less 
than  $i,ooo  anywhere. 

8.  In  communities  whose  compactness  permits,  and 
whose  population  and  resources  require,  that  there  be 
only  one  congregation  and  pastor,  but  where  several 
churches  actually  exist  and  are  not  ready  to  unite  as 
one  denominational  church,  a  Federated  Church  may 
and  should  be  formed.  Like  a  Federation,  this  type 
preserves  intact  the  legal  existence  and  denomina- 
tional connection  of  the  churches,  while  securing 
united  action  through  a  joint  committee.  It  differs 
from  the  Federation  in  that  this  united  action  includes, 
as  its  first  and  main  object,  worship  as  one  congrega- 
tion and  the  support  of  one  pastor.  Complex  as  a 
Federated  Church  seems,  experience  demonstrates  that 
it  works  harmoniously  and  secures  marked  increase  of 
efficiency  over  the  field.  It  may  prepare  for  full  union 
as  a  church  of  one  or  the  other  denomination;  but  it 
may  also  be  a  permanent  solution.  The  limitations  of 
trust  funds  often  make  it  the  only  solution.  Denomina- 
tions which  differ  widely  in  forms  of  worship,  while 
they  heartily  cooperate  in  a  Federation  of  Churches, 
may  not  be  able  to  unite  in  a  Federated  Church. 

9.  As  implied  in  the  last  paragraph,  where  a  new 
church  is  being  formed,  or  where  existing  churches 
can  agree  to  unite  organically,  one  church  may  and 
should  be  formed.    This  is  obviously  the  simplest  and 


CHURCH  FEDERATION  AND  COOPERATION      211 

the  best  solution.  Such  a  community  church  may 
either  be  denominational  or  undenominational.  If  it 
is  possible  to  agree  upon  a  denomination,  the  former 
is  undoubtedly  the  better,  as  giving  the  church  the 
missionary  outlet  counsel,  and  perhaps  aid  which  it 
requires.  Denominations  are  the  most  .  effective 
agencies  yet  existing  to  advance  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Success  depends  upon  such  an  understanding  between 
the  denominations  of  the  state  that  the  one  holding 
the  field  shall  make  it  an  acceptable  church-home  to 
every  one  who  is  a  true  Christian,  and  other  denomina- 
tions shall  advise  their  adherents  there  to  identify 
themselves  with  it  at  least  as  ''associate  members"; 
that  is,  members  retaining  ecclesiastical  connection 
elsewhere. 

10.  The  union  or  undenominational  church  is  neces- 
sarily independent.  It  suffers  from  lack  of  denom- 
inational aid  and  counsel.  It  may,  however,  readily 
share  in  missions  through  denominational  or  interde- 
nominational boards;  and  secure  fellowship,  counsel, 
and  perhaps  even  aid  ultimately,  through  the  state 
Federation  of  Churches.  Even  with  their  present  iso- 
lation many  union  churches  are  successful,  as  appears 
from  the  fact  that  from  1890  to  1906  independent 
churches  which  include  union  churches,  increased  in 
the  United  States  five  hundred  and  ninety-six  per  cent., 
while  the  number  of  Protestant  Churches  as  a  whole 
increased  only  twenty-seven  per  cent. 

11.  Of  course  the  single  church  of  either  type  is 
not  an  example  of  Federation  in  the  technical  sense; 
but  its  success  evidently  requires  the  spirit  of  inter- 


212  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

denominational    cooperation;    and    therefore    comes 
within  the  topic  assigned  to  your  committee. 

Minority  Report 

The  Rev.  George  Frederick  Wells  dissents  from 
paragraph  8,  saying :  "A  one-minister  federation 
(Federated  Church)  is  justifiable  only  when  some 
form  of  organic  union  has  become  the  settled  purpose 
of  the  federation  and  the  minister  is  secured  expressly 
to  help  attain  that  end." 

He  would  change  paragraph  7  into  ''  a  guarded 
statement  of  the  great  importance  of  the  question  of 
numerical  size  of  parish,"  and  holds  that  paragraph  10 
leans  too  much  to  the  side  of  the  independent  church. 


COOPERATION  AND  RELIGIOUS 
EDUCATION 

W.  G.  Clippinger 

It  may  not  be  amiss  for  me  at  the  outset  to  state 
frankly  and  yet  with  the  fullest  sympathy  a  fear  which 
I  entertain  with  regard  to  the  emphasis  of  meetings 
such  as  this.  We  have  shared  very  enthusiastically 
the  new  spirit  of  awakened  interest  in  social  service, 
and  the  call  of  the  country  is  so  strong  and  loud  that 
its  appeals  have  stirred  our  hearts  with  a  great  deal 
of  enthusiasm.  This  meeting  is  significant  for  its  de- 
gree of  interest  in  the  federation  of  churches  and  par- 


COOPERATION  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION      213 

ticularly  in  the  interest  in  country  life.  The  inspira- 
tion is  running  high,  and  what  I  am  about  to  say  must 
not  be  interpreted  as  being  a  criticism  from  one  who 
is  outside  the  circle  of  friends  of  the  movement.  I 
share  with  you  heartily  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the  hour, 
but  at  the  same  time  I  claim  the  right  to  be  a  friendly 
critic  and  reserve  the  privilege  of  pointing  out  some 
of  the  possible  dangers  of  an  overemphasis  upon  one 
phase  of  the  problem,  or  rather  non-emphasis  of  an- 
other and  vital  phase  of  the  problem.  It  is  said  that 
a  man's  worst  enemies  are  they  of  his  own  household. 
I  should  like  to  say  that  a  man's  best  friends  are  they 
of  his  own  household,  and  further  that  a  man's  safest 
and  sanest  critics  are  they  of  his  own  household. 

In  the  matter  of  federation,  as  it  pertains  to  both 
the  city  and  the  country  problem,  it  seems  to  me  that 
one  important  thing  has  been  overlooked — that  of  the 
federation  in  things  which  are  essentially  religious  in 
their  bearings.  This  must  not  be  interpreted  as  criti- 
cism of  the  splendid  emphasis  upon  methods  in  social 
service  and  expressive  activity.  The  one  thing  which 
this  program  and  most  of  our  programs  have  over- 
looked has  been  that  of  deliberation  upon  the  special 
problem  of  religious  education.  It  is  to  this  problem 
that  my  topic  commits  us  for  consideration  at  this 
moment. 

That  I  may  set  before  you  more  clearly  what  I  mean 
I  may  be  permitted  to  quote  a  text.  It  is  a  rather  long 
one,  but  expresses  better  than  I  could  my  conception 
of  our  strength  and  our  weakness.  I  refer  to  that 
part  of  Dr.  Francis  G.  Peabody's  address  before  the 


214  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

Religious  Education  Association  some  years  ago,  en- 
titled "  The  Social  Conscience  and  the  Religious 
Life."    The  following  is  my  text: 

"  Religious  education,  it  may  be  said,  deals  with  the 
child,  the  individual,  the  church ;  social  duty  deals  with 
the  community,  the  industrial  order,  the  state.  Re- 
ligious education  leads  to  a  better  knowledge  of  God; 
social  duty  leads  to  a  better  service  of  man. 

''  The  two  enterprises  stand  near  together,  but  they 
face,  as  it  were,  opposite  ways.  Religious  education 
looks  toward  the  eternal;  social  duty  looks  toward  the 
contemporary.  It  is  not,  then,  a  questionable  use  of 
our  opportunity,  not  to  say  a  perversion  of  our  trust, 
if  even  for  a  single  session  an  organization  pledged  to 
religious  education  should  be  invited  to  consider  the 
perplexing  problems  of  social  duty,  which  so  gravely 
divide  and  distract  the  thought  of  the  modern  world. 
The  hesitation  which  may  be  thus  expressed  concerning 
our  immediate  purpose  reflects  a  much  more  general 
skepticism  which  many  religious  people  frankly  con- 
fess. The  absorbing  interest  of  the  present  age  in 
social  duty,  its  desire  for  social  service,  and  its  dream 
of  social  revolution  have  been,  it  is  admitted,  a  sum- 
mons to  the  Christian  church,  as  to  the  modern  world, 
to  new  forms  of  duty;  but  have  they  not,  it  is  asked, 
diverted  the  church  from  its  original  and  permanent 
purpose  of  redeeming  and  sanctifying  the  individual 
soul  ?  Is  not  the  church  tempted  to  diminish  its  devo- 
tion to  worship  and  to  apply  its  energies  to  work  ?  Are 
we  not  substituting  clubs,  gymnasiums,  and  social  set- 
tlements for  prayers,  conversions,  and  revivals?     Is 


COOPERATION  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION      215 

not  the  church  in  our  day  less  frequented  than  the 
parish  house,  and  the  preacher  drawn  to  a  gospel  of 
social  reform  rather  than  to  a  gospel  of  salvation? 
And  where,  if  anywhere,  shall  we  escape  from  this 
peril  of  secularized  and  truncated  Christianity  if  not 
in  an  assembly  expressly  devoted  to  religious  educa- 
tion ?  Shall  not  the  clamorous  demands  of  social  duty 
be,  for  the  moment,  hushed  while  the  soul  of  man 
listens  for  the  instruction  of  God  ? 

"  Much  there  is,  no  doubt,  in  the  temper  of  the 
present  time  which  justifies  in  devout  people  this 
sense  of  apprehension.  The  awakening  of  the  social 
conscience  has  been  so  abrupt  and  startling,  and  the 
reaction  from  an  individualized  and  self-centered  re- 
ligion so  marked  and  compelling,  that  the  church  as 
a  religious  shrine  may  be  easily  supplanted  by  the 
church  as  a  social  laboratory;  and  the  practice  of  the 
presence  of  God  may  be  forgotten  in  the  practice  of  the 
service  of  man.  The  tremendous  force  of  the  social 
renaissance  sweeps  Christian  teachers  into  restate- 
ments of  Christian  doctrine  which  identify  a  social 
program  with  the  essentials  of  a  Christian  faith. 

''  Where,  it  may  be  asked,  is  the  place  for  personal 
piety  among  these  pressing  demands  of  social  service? 
Are  the  economists,  sociologists,  philanthropists,  or 
revolutionists  to  represent  all  that  is  left  of  Christian 
faith?  Is  the  Christian  church  to  teach  an  industrial 
revolution  instead  of  a  spiritual  evolution?  Are  we 
to  be  so  busy  in  doing  good  that  we  have  no  time  to 
be  good?  Is  the  old-time  issue  between  faith  and 
works  to  be  revived,  and  must  another  Paul  preach 


2i6  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

again  the  vanity  of  unspiritualized  conduct,  and  the 
power  of  the  risen  life?  The  situation  is  certainly  not 
without  gravity,  when  many  circumstances  of  the  time 
conspire  to  transform  the  Christian  church  into  a 
charity-bureau,  or  a  lecture-platform,  or  a  recreation- 
ground,  or  a  medical  clinic." 

There  are  three  existing  agencies  for  religious  in- 
struction in  jnost  communities,  the  Sunday-school,  the 
Christian  Endeavor  Society,  and  the  home.  Of  these 
the  most  important  is  the  home,  which  is  at  the  same 
time  the  most  neglected.  The  most  effective  in  its 
organization  is  the  Sunday-school.  There  is  no  com- 
munity where  it  has  not  gone;  no  hamlet  it  has  not 
reached.  The  home,  which  is  the  primitive  and  natural 
agency  for  religious  instruction,  has  surrendered  its 
right  to  instruct  in  things  religious  to  an  artificial 
organization  known  as  the  Sunday-school.  Here  under 
varying  and  often  unfavorable  conditions  our  children 
receive  most  of  the  religious  inspiration  and  training 
they  will  get. 

The  Christian  Endeavor  Society  and  other  young 
people's  organizations  are  designed  more  for  training 
than  for  instruction  and  yet  may  have  a  share  in  giving 
and  receiving  the  inspiration  to  be  derived  from  co- 
operative and  federated  movements. 

The  chief  agency  for  religious  education  in  the  rural 
communities,  then,  is  the  Sunday-school.  The  Sunday- 
school  has  likewise  been  the  most  effective  agency  in 
producing  federation  and  cooperation  among  the 
churches.  Indeed  an  anomalous  situation  presents 
itself  in  this,  that  whole  congregations  will  mingle  in 


COOPERATION  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION     217 

an  interdenominational  Sunday-school  convention,  sub- 
scribe to  plans,  purposes,  ideals,  and  methods,  and 
even  to  fundamental  doctrines  in  religion,  but  refuse 
to  come  together  on  other  occasions  and  in  other  cir- 
cumstances. At  the  same  time  it  must  be  admitted 
that  much  of  the  bigotry  and  narrowness  of  sectarian- 
ism is  being  dissipated  through  the  organized  Sunday- 
school  work.  The  World's  Sunday-School  Association 
represents  an  organization  of  the  leading  Christian 
denominations  in  this  and  foreign  lands.  It  has 
succeeded  in  pressing  itself  into  pagan  countries.  Fre- 
quently the  Sunday-school  has  been  the  pioneer  in  mis- 
sionary activity.  The  same  spirit  of  comity  and  co- 
operation is  prevalent  in  all  communities  in  the  home 
land.  It  is  the  finest  democratizing  and  socializing 
agency  known  in  religious  circles.  There  is  about  it 
a  freedom  and  an  ease  unknown  in  other  organizations. 

The  remarkable  effect  of  the  international  uniform 
lesson  system  has  been  to  unify  the  sentiment  of  a 
score  or  more  of  Christian  denominations.  The  con- 
sciousness that  at  the  same  time,  under  the  same  con- 
ditions and  by  the  same  system  twenty  to  thirty  mil- 
lions of  people  are  studying  the  same  Biblical  material 
in  a  uniform  lesson  is  the  finest  illustration  of  coopera- 
tion and  federation  the  world  has  yet  seen.  Al- 
though the  graded  system  is  supplanting  the  uniform 
system,  the  results  and  the  spirit  remain,  and  the  re- 
ligious world  will  forever  be  the  heir  of  this  rich 
heritage  of  fraternal  spirit. 

The  Sunday-school  has  not  only  contributed  to  this 
spirit  of   federation  and  cooperation,  but  it  is  also 


2i8  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

receiving  and  sharing  in  the  new  spirit  which  the 
movement  represented  by  this  organization  is  produc- 
ing. The  Sunday-school  has  given  and  received  much 
of  inspiration  and  is  becoming  the  center  of  a  new 
spirit  of  unselfish  devotion  to  the  cause  of  religion. 
It  has  become  the  most  popular  and  socializing  organ- 
ization. It  is  the  easiest  and  cheapest  medium  through 
which  cooperation  and  federation  may  be  effected. 

At  the  same  time  it  has  failed  to  accomplish  much 
that  lies  within  its  province.  Its  degree  of  federation 
has  been  secured  chiefly  through  conventions,  insti- 
tutes, and  conferences.  These  have  extended  from  the 
world's  organization  down  through  the  international, 
state,  district,  county,  and  township  divisions.  It  has 
failed,  however,  of  projecting  the  spirit  of  federation 
into  its  practical  operations  for  the  benefit  of  its  own 
work.  It  has  created  a  spirit,  but  has  not  in  full 
measure  produced  tangible  results.  To  be  specific,  the 
same  condition  that  is  notorious  with  regard  to  the 
church  as  a  whole  affects  particularly  the  Sunday- 
school  operation.  This  is  to  be  seen  ( i )  in  the  ineffi- 
ciency of  its  teaching  force  when  confined  to  denom- 
inational lines,  and  (2)  in  the  lack  of  efficient  material 
equipment. 

The  fact  that  so  few  efficiently  trained  teachers  are 
available  for  the  average  rural  Sunday-school  has  be- 
come a  matter  of  great  concern  to  the  religious  forces 
of  the  country.  The  classes,  if  pedagogically  ar-. 
ranged,  are  necessarily  small  and  the  number  of  teach- 
ers relatively  large.  Moreover,  by  the  very  nature  of 
the  case,  not  many  qualified  teachers  can  be  secured 


COOPERATION  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION      219 

from  numbers  so  small  as  the  average  rural  congrega- 
tion. Much  of  the  ignorance  of  Biblical  facts,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  failure  to  vitalize  religious  truth,  is 
doubtless  due  to  the  inefficient  methods  of  our  instruc- 
tion. Trained  leadership  coupled  with  a  universal  and 
popular  conviction  that  religious  instruction  is  not  only 
desirable  but  necessary  for  the  welfare  of  the  indi- 
vidual and  of  society  will  help  to  solve  the  problem. 

Now  let  me  say  a  word  with  regard  to  the  method 
of  cooperation  and  federation  in  religious  education. 
There  are  three  distinct  media  of  cooperation  possible 
in  rural  districts :  first,  the  community  training  school ; 
second,  the  federated  Sunday-school;  and  third,  the 
correlation  of  Sunday-school  and  day-school  in  relig- 
ious instruction.  There  might  be  also  added  a  fourth 
— cooperation  for  religious  instruction  in  the  home, 
which  of  course  would  be  more  difficult  of  execution. 

In  city  communities  a  new  movement  is  now  being 
promoted  for  interdenominational  community  train- 
ing-schools in  which  are  employed  a  half  dozen  ex- 
perts drawn  from  all  denominations,  sometimes  im- 
ported from  other  communities,  carrying  on  through 
a  series  of  months  a  systematic  course  of  instruction 
and  training  for  both  teachers  and  officers.  In  this  day 
of  quick  transit  by  automobiles,  of  easy  communica- 
tion by  telephone,  and  of  other  socializing  agencies,  it 
is  indeed  possible  for  a  community  training-school 
including  a  half  dozen  parishes  to  be  carried  on  in  the 
winter  as  easily  as  the  old-fashioned  spelling-bee  or 
debating  society.  Let  the  work  in  the  Bible  be  con- 
ducted by  the  minister  who  is  best  trained  to  teach 


220  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

the  Bible.  Let  the  work  in  psychology  be  carried  on 
by  the  best  school-teacher  or  superintendent  in  the 
community.  Let  the  topic  of  administration  be  taught 
by  the  best  Sunday-school  superintendent.  Still  fur- 
ther specialization  could  be  made  if  necessary.  Illus- 
trations of  the  splendid  way  in  which  this  is  done  in  the 
cities  are  shown  in  Oak  Park,  Chicago;  Dayton;  Cin- 
cinnati; Cleveland;  and  other  cities. 

On  the  second  point,  the  matter  of  equipment,  it 
may  be  said  that  it  is  hardly  fair  to  this  generation 
of  young  people  that  centralized  school-buildings  with 
modem  heating,  lighting,  and  ventilating  systems  and 
comfortable  seating  should  be  provided  for  the  day- 
schools,  while  the  leaders  of  religious  work  are  un- 
willing to  provide  similar  conditions  for  the  Sunday- 
school.  This  would  probably  call  for  centralization  of 
religious  education.  It  would  require  the  laying  down 
of  denominational  lines  and  the  establishment  of  a 
new  spirit  of  federation  and  cooperation  of  the 
churches.  Nevertheless,  the  greatest  advertisement 
the  Christian  religion  could  ever  have  would  be  the 
announcement  of  a  centralized  Sunday-school  con- 
ducted by  trained  experts,  with  Sunday-school  wagons 
to  bring  the  children  from  neighboring  districts  in 
numbers  sufficient  to  create  enthusiasm  and  inspira- 
tion in  the  work  of  teaching.  One  reason  that  so  few 
young  people  go  to  Sunday-school  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts is  that  the  numbers  in  the  average  church  are 
not  sufficient  to  awaken  interest.  The  churches  are 
cold  and  poorly  lighted  and  ventilated.  The  music  is 
dull  and  uninspiring.    The  numbers  in  his  own  group 


COOPERATION  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION      221 

do  not  inspire  and  awaken  social  sympathy  on  the 
part  of  the  pupil.  The  teacher  feels  that  because  the 
class  is  small  there  is  little  need  of  special  preparation. 
The  consequence  is  that  the  interest  in  religious  educa- 
tion and,  of  course,  in  religion  dies. 

One  mark  of  the  shortcomings  of  the  Sunday-school 
in  its  present  system  is  the  limitation  of  time  to  be 
given  to  actual  religious  instruction.  Usually  one 
hour  or  one  hour  and  a  quarter  at  most  is  given  each 
week  to  the  Sunday-school  program.  This  time  is 
necessarily  reduced,  by  the  elimination  of  the  periods 
given  to  the  opening  and  closing  exercises  and  to  other 
necessary  features  of  the  program,  to  twenty  or  thirty 
minutes  for  actual  instruction.  In  the  average 
Sunday-school  it  is  a  question  whether  more  than 
twenty  minutes  of  positive  instruction  are  given.  Bar- 
ring the  four  Sundays  in  the  year  which  are  usually 
given  to  special  programs,  we  have  left  forty-eight 
regular  sessions.  This  would  allow  sixteen  full  hours 
per  year  for  religious  instruction  in  the  Sunday-school. 
Add  to  this  the  fact  that  the  average  attendance  in 
the  Sunday-school  is  only  about  two  thirds  of  the  en- 
rolment, the  further  fact  that  the  average  teacher  is 
not  well  prepared  for  religious  instruction,  and  the 
still  further  fact  that  most  scholars  do  not  spend  any 
time  in  preparation  of  their  lesson  at  home,  and  you 
have  a  situation  which  demands  serious  attention  on 
the  part  of  people  who  are  interested  in  religion  and 
religious  instruction. 

All  of  these  features  and  more  that  might  be  named 
are  not  to  be  interpreted  as  a  reflection  upon  the  sys- 


222  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

tern  as  much  as  a  comment  upon  its  limitations  and  a 
plea  for  a  larger  program,  better  training,  better  equip- 
ment, more  time,  greater  reverence,  and  a  more  serious 
attitude  toward  the  most  vital  thing  in  our  church  and 
educational  activities.  It  calls  for  federation  and  co- 
operation in  our  activities,  without  which  the  largest 
results  cannot  be  obtained. 

May  it  be  that  the  Sunday-school  in  the  inspiration 
of  the  movement  for  federation  and  cooperation  will 
develop  in  these  new  directions  in  the  days  soon  to 
come. 

The  latest  and  one  of  the  most  striking  illustrations 
of  cooperation  in  religious  education  is  to  be  found  in 
the  correlation  of  the  work  of  the  public  schools  with 
that  of  the  Sunday-schools.  This  is  accomplished  in 
three  ways  which  may  be  designated  as  the  Greeley 
(Colorado)  plan,  the  Gary  (Indiana)  plan,  and  the 
North  Dakota  plan. 

By  the  first  plan  a  system  of  cooperation  in  the  prep- 
aration of  teachers  is  provided  between  the  state 
normal  school  and  the  local  city  churches.  It  has  been 
so  satisfactory  that  it  may  be  commended  to  any  com- 
munity where  training  agencies  for  teachers  in  the 
public  schools  exist. 

In  the  Gary  plan  certain  hours  of  the  children  com- 
ing to  or  going  from  school  may  be  unclaimed  by  the 
public  schools  at  given  periods  each  week  and  the 
action  of  their  parents  may  direct  the  children  to  the 
church,  the  parish  house,  or  the  synagogue  to  receive 
religious  instruction  by  the  preacher,  the  priest,  or  the 
rabbi.    According  to  this  plan,  neither  school  property 


COOPERATION  AND  RELIGIOUS  EDUCATION     223 

nor  school  employees  are  used  for  religious  instruction, 
and  neither  Jew  nor  Christian,  Catholic  nor  Protestant 
has  ground  for  complaint.  All  of  them  are  working 
in  complete  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  state  to  all 
the  state  furnishes  equal  opportunity. 

Another  form  of  cooperation,  which  was  inaugu- 
rated some  years  ago  in  North  Dakota,  has  proved 
successful  in  that  state  and  elsewhere.  In  this  plan 
the  high  schools  accept  for  credit  a  certain  amount  of 
work  done  in  the  Sunday-school  or  synagogue  or 
by  other  church  societies  or  agencies,  if  the  work 
including  material,  method,  and  examinations,  is 
approved  by  the  school  authorities.  Here,  again, 
high-grade  religious  instruction  is  obtained  by  all  who 
desire  it  without  the  use  of  public  funds  or  the  en- 
croachment upon  the  principle  of  religious  freedom. 
These  all  afford  illustrations  of  cooperation  in  religious 
education. 

A  word  may  be  said  concerning  religious  education 
in  the  home  through  cooperation.  Is  it  not  possible 
that  parents'  clubs  or  associations  may  be  formed  for 
the  awakening  of  interest  in  home  religion?  Special 
addresses  and  lectures  on  children's  religion,  the  family 
altar,  and  parental  piety  might  be  procured.  Oppor- 
tunity for  distributing  religious  literature,  too,  might 
be  provided  by  this  means.  All  of  these  things  would 
tend  indeed  to  a  finer  religious  life. 

These  are  a  few  of  the  ways  in  which  some  of  the 
vital  things  of  life  as  found  in  real  religious  study  and 
inspiration  may  be  procured  through  cooperation  in  re- 
ligious education.     They  need  not  supplant  but  cer- 


224  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

tainly  can  supplement  the  splendid  work  now  done  in 
practical  and  expressive  lines  of  social  service. 


COOPERATION  AND  FEDERATION 

John  M.  Moore 

Cooperation  and  federation  are  terms  that  compre- 
hend far-reaching  and  multiplied  activities  based  upon 
high  ideals  and  directed  to  noble  ulterior  ends.  They 
are  not  words  to  be  used  by  men  of  little  heart  and 
selfish  purpose.  To  apply  the  principles  which  they 
involve  is  to  usher  in  a  period  of  reconstruction  of 
church  life  in  methods  of  operation,  in  the  alinement  of 
forces,  and  in  the  recognition  of  the  objects  to  be 
achieved.  Reconstruction  is  never  child's  play,  for 
aside  from  its  positive  labors  there  is  always  strenuous 
opposition,  and  even  serious  conflict,  from  many  hon- 
orable and  devout  persons  who  conscientiously  and 
tenaciously  hold  to  the  things  and  conditions  that  are 
and  look  upon  any  change  as  revolutionary,  mischiev- 
ous, and  even  ruinous.  Reconstruction  that  involves 
the  church  has  to  meet  not  only  the  deeply  grounded 
convictions  and  prejudices  of  the  people,  but  also  the 
vigorous  protests  and  frequently  open  hostility  of 
strongly  entrenched  and  widely  dominant  ecclesiasti- 
cism.  Recognition  of  this  fact  will  lead  to  discretion 
in  the  inauguration  of  new  movements,  to  generous 
sympathy  in  dealing  with  the  people  and  institutions 


COOPERATION  AND  FEDERATION  225 

to  be  affected,  and  to  a  genuinely  educational  process 
with  sufficient  time  allowed  to  make  seeming  icono- 
clasm  impossible  and  the  normally  new  conditions  a 
certainty.  The  leaders  of  the  churches  in  America  to- 
day are  called  upon  by  the  conditions  of  divided  Chris- 
tendom to  undertake  with  courage  and  caution  a  great 
program  of  reconstruction  that  has  for  its  objective  the 
unifying  and  effectualizing  of  the  Christian  forces  of 
this  nation  in  city,  town,  and  country,  so  that  the  church 
may  have  its  rightful  place  in  the  leadership  of  all 
phases  of  national  life  and  in  the  religious  development 
of  a  great  people  whose  Christian  responsibilities  are 
commensurate  with  the  greatest  of  religious  oppor- 
tunities, and  whose  obligations  are  world-wide. 

In  no  place  does  the  church  need  greater  strengthen- 
ing than  in  the  rural  sections,  where  divisions  are  most 
pronounced,  where  neglect  is  most  common,  and 
where  its  leadership  is  most  essential  not  only  to  re- 
ligious life,  but  to  every  effort  at  social,  intellectual, 
moral,  and  even  industrial  betterment.  The  rural 
church  to-day  is  being  called  upon  for  a  service  which 
in  its  present  state  it  cannot  possibly  render.  It  has 
not  the  spiritual  vigor,  the  missionary  outlook,  the 
religious  convictions,  nor  the  intellectual  qualifications 
for  making  it  a  mighty  force  in  community  direction 
and  uplift,  social,  mental,  and  moral.  It  cannot  com- 
mand its  environment  nor  grip  the  forces  that  control 
in  rural  progress. 

For  this  there  may  be  many  reasons,  but  unques- 
tionably one  of  the  chief  causes  of  its  weakness  and 
one  of  the  greatest  hindrances  to  the  religious  prog- 


226  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

ress  of  many  rural  communities  is  the  ever-existing 
assertive  and  exclusive  denominationalism.  Denom- 
inationalism  grips  the  church  and  religious  life  of  the 
rural  people  as  a  vise  and  asserts  its  authority  as  a 
despot.  It  is  no  new  powder.  It  came  with  the  blood 
of  the  fathers  and  has  grown  in  the  very  mental  and 
moral  fibers  of  the  people.  It  has  rooted  itself  in  the 
conscience  of  the  best  men  and  women  and  even  dom- 
inates the  prejudices  of  the  worst.  The  hard  con- 
flicts of  the  fathers  of  a  century  ago  over  the  tenets 
of  the  various  sects  may  have  passed  to  oblivion  in 
the  towns  and  cities,  but  not  sO'  in  many  sections  of 
the  country.  The  battle  no  longer  wages  in  fury,  but 
the  lines  are  still  entrenched  and  the  suggestion  of  a 
demobilization  would  be  treated  with  gross  indiffer- 
ence if  not  with  open  contempt.  This  stubborn  con- 
dition cannot  be  ignored  in  any  program  of  reconstruc- 
tion. It  must  be  faced  and  judiciously  and  religiously 
met  if  any  success  is  to  be  hoped  for. 

The  past  value  and  present  merit  of  denomination- 
alism must  be  recognized  and  appreciated.  Denom- 
inations are  the  direct  and  inevitable  outcome  of  re- 
ligious liberty.  The  middle  section  of  the  North 
American  continent  was  the  providential  meeting- 
place  of  the  various  sects  who  left  their  respective 
European  birthplaces  to  seek  a  new  land  where  con- 
science might  be  free  and  religious  thought  and  wor- 
ship might  be  untrammeled.  The  superiority  of 
American  Christianity,  whether  Protestant  or  Roman, 
is  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  very  conditions  that 
have  produced  a  self-respecting  and  self-assertive  de- 


COOPERATION  AND  FEDERATION  227 

nominationalism.  Denominationalism  is  not  to  be  de- 
spised because  of  the  narrowness,  arrogance,  and  self- 
sufficiency  of  some  boastful  sect,  or  belated  and  lim- 
ited class.  It  must  be  judged  in  the  light  of  history 
and  valued  by  its  present  force  in  giving  to  the  world 
the  light,  truth,  and  power  of  the  gospel  through  its 
representatives  and  the  institutions  which  it  produces. 
Denominationalism  has  on  the  Christian  people  of 
America  a  righteous  hold  that  must  be  respected.  In 
the  course  of  time  its  devotion  may  be  transferred  to 
a  larger  and  more  comprehensive  unit,  but  it  should 
never  be  destroyed. 

Men  who  are  ambitious  to  bring  in  a  new  era  for 
the  farmers'  church  must  take  into  account  not  only 
the  need  of  a  united  Christianity  and  a  unified  church 
life  in  the  country,  but  also  the  existing  assertive  and 
exclusive  denominationalism  in  many  communities,  the 
larger,  fuller,  finer,  and  forceful  denominationalism 
of  American  church  life,  and  the  great  ecclesiastical 
activities  of  these  denominations  to  maintain  and  pro- 
mote their  own  standing  in  the  religious  world.  Sen- 
timent may  dictate  an  action  which  self-interest,  and 
that  not  wholly  unrighteous,  may  oppose.  What  is 
the  way  through  this  labyrinth  of  church  interests, 
with  their  historical  and  holy  foundations  ?  The  pres- 
ent state  cannot  continue  if  rural  progress  is  made 
possible. 

The  time  has  come  when  denominational  coopera- 
tion in  rural  church  life  is  practically  essential  to 
any  great  social  and  religious  movement.  The  place 
to  begin,  however,  it  would  seem,  would  not  be  in 


228  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

the  local  community  but  in  the  denominational  coun- 
cils of  tliose  organizations  that  are  directly  involved. 
An  attitude  of  fraternity,  a  sense  of  respect,  a  spirit 
of  cooperation  must  be  developed  in  the  governing 
bodies  and  administrative  agencies  of  the  denomina- 
tions before  local  cooperation  and  federation  are  pos- 
sible. Some  denominations  have  an  exalted  opinion 
of  their  providential  and  predestined  importance  and 
are  not  inclined  to  cooperation  of  any  kind.  They 
claim  to  be  the  Lord's  peculiar  people^ — and  they  are. 
Where  such  a  denomination  asserts  itself  in  a  com- 
munity, federation  is  impossible  and  even  religious 
harmony  is  rare.  Denominational  conceit  seldom 
lends  itself  to  the  promotion  of  other  than  self- 
interests,  however  large  or  small  the  sphere  in  which 
it  operates.  The  peace  program  of  denominational 
comity  and  mutual  respect  must  be  carried  out  in 
every  section  before  any  great  plans  of  cooperation 
can  be  entered  upon.  This  will  not  be  accomplished 
by  the  instantaneous  process.  It  will  require  the  long- 
time exposure,  like  the  photographing  of  slowly  mov- 
ing stars. 

Federation  may  be  regarded  by  some  persons  with 
suspicion  because  it  is  a  term  implying  compact,  united 
government,  headship,  and  a  measure  of  control;  but 
that  suspicion  may  be  dispelled  by  proper  interpreta- 
tion of  the  term.  The  Federated  Church  can  scarcely 
be  less  than  an  independent  union  church  and  does 
not  recommend  itself  to  churchmen  who  are  accus- 
tomed to  connectionalism.  Such  a  combination  lacks 
vital  relations.     It  is  a  convenience,  and  as  such  it 


COOPERATION  AND  FEDERATION  229 

seldom  inspires  devotion,  loyalty,  and  religious  pur- 
pose. The  finer  and  stronger  virtues  of  the  Christian 
life  are,  as  a  rule,  not  developed  in  such  a  church. 
The  world  moves  in  systems  and  in  them  man  finds 
himself.  The  breaking  down  of  denominations  is  no 
more  to  be  sought  in  the  rural  districts  than  in  the 
towns  and  cities.  The  cooperation  of  denominations, 
however,  is  not  only  merely  desirable  and  feasible;  it 
is  now  absolutely  essential  to  any  adequate  religious 
life  and  service.  Where  more  than  one  denomination 
is  found  in  a  community,  the  ministers  who  serve  them 
should  agree  upon  a  common  program  which  they  will 
seek  to  carry  out.  No  minister  has  a  moral  right  to 
preach  a  sermon  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  offense  to 
persons  holding  different  doctrines,  or  so  to  express 
his  beliefs  that  such  persons  are  offended.  He  may 
teach  his  own  doctrines  when  he  feels  impelled  to  it, 
but  in  doing  so  he  may  not  decry  and  combat  the 
views  of  others  of  his  congregation  who  look  to  him 
for  spiritual  guidance  and  leadership,  and  thereby 
create  an  abiding  disturbance  in  the  community  life. 
As  a  Methodist  I  make  bold  to  say  that  a  Methodist 
preacher  who  cannot  preach  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath 
to  Baptists  and  not  give  offense,  even  when  he  pro- 
claims Methodist  views,  has  no  business  in  the  min- 
istry. The  narrow,  offensive  sectarian  and  the  de- 
nominational bully  can  no  longer  represent  Christianity 
in  this  country,  whatever  their  church  affiliations.  Co- 
operation will  at  once  rid  all  communities  of  such  in- 
tolerant men. 

Cooperation  in  its  local  application  is  best  developed 


230  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

by  an  association  or  federation  of  churches  which  has 
for  its  purpose  the  estabHshment  and  promotion  of 
social  fellowship  among  the  ministers  and  other 
church  leaders,  and  the  agreement  upon  a  county  and 
community  program  of  religious  activity  and  social 
service.  Every  county  in  the  nation,  excepting  the 
cities,  should  have  such  an  association  or  federation, 
and  every  minister  laboring  in  a  county  should  wel- 
come the  opportunity  of  cooperative  effort  which  the 
federation  would  insure.  When  a  new  minister  comes 
to  a  county,  he  should  seek  the  association  at  once  or 
be  sought  by  it.  Ministers  of  whatever  faith  and 
order  laboring  in  the  same  county  should  not  be  al- 
lowed to  remain  strangers  to  each  other.  Harassing 
denominationalism  is  due  in  no  small  measure  to  a 
lack  of  esprit  de  corps  among  the  various  ministers 
and  of  a  program  of  community  service  which  will 
demand  for  its  execution  the  concerted  action  of  all 
religious  people. 

Federation  will  help  to  Christianize  rural  denom- 
inationalism and  give  ecclesiasticism  a  sense  of  neigh- 
borly obligation.  It  will  reveal  to  the  intense  sec- 
tarian the  beauty  and  force  of  genuine  Christian 
unity.  It  will  clear  away  dividing  walls,  make  plain 
the  common  task,  and  give  Christian  honor  and  broth- 
erly love  a  chance  to  develop  in  rural  communities  the 
sacred  things  and  purposes  of  life  and  genuine  re- 
ligion. Federation,  or  rather  cooperation,  will  not 
only  banish  strife  and  unite  the  Christian  forces,  but 
it  will  bring  to  light  and  correct  religious  neglect  and 
operate  to  promote  a  real  cultivation  of  Christian  vir- 


COOPERATION  AND  FEDERATION  231 

tues  and  experience.  Denominational  independence, 
or  individualism,  is  responsible  for  a  large  measure 
of  the  rural  neglect  of  to-day.  It  is  this  that  has 
divided  the  Christian  people  into  feeble  bands  and 
made  the  support  of  competent  ministers  an  impossi- 
bility. A  consoHdated  Christianity  is  indispensable  to 
the  churches  in  the  open  country  if  they  are  to  pro- 
mote rural  progress  and  furnish  leadership  in  the 
highest  interests  of  country  life.  This  consolidation 
will  be  possible  only  when  the  emphasis  is  transferred 
from  denominational  success  to  the  religious  develop- 
ment of  all  the  people,  when  the  program  of  the  coun- 
try church  shall  be  large  enough  to  include  all  neces- 
sary community  service,  and  when  the  gospel  preached 
by  all  ministers  shall  bring  life  and  immortality  to 
light  and  usher  in  the  kingdom  of  God  wherein  dwell- 
eth  righteousness.  The  moral  and  religious  needs  of 
thousands  of  rural  communities  in  our  great  country 
furnish  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  futility  of  de- 
nominations operating  individually  and  alone  and 
without  regard  to  others;  and  they  cry  out  against 
further  postponement  of  great  cooperative  efforts  on 
the  part  of  the  churches  that  will  respect  the  religious 
beliefs  of  all  and  neglect  the  social,  moral,  and  re- 
ligious needs  of  none. 


222  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

LAND  TENURE  AND  THE  RURAL 
CHURCH 

Henry  Wallace 

The  prosperity  of  the  rural  church  has  in  all  ages 
and  in  all  countries  been  determined  largely  by  the 
tenure  by  which  farmers  hold  their  lands.  A  pros- 
perous country  church  means  a  relatively  large  rural 
population — large  enough  to  support  a  minister,  to 
push  the  work  of  the  church  vigorously,  to  impress  its 
ideals  of  life  and  character  on  the  community,  and  to 
do  its  part  in  extending  the  gospel  to  outside  sections 
and  to  foreign  lands. 

It  requires,  second,  that  farming  be  on  an  economic 
basis;  that  is,  that  farmers  are  making  money.  For 
the  church  is  always  and  everywhere  supported,  not 
by  capital,  but  by  profits;  and  if  the  farmer  is  not 
making  a  comfortable  living  or  is  sinking  his  capital, 
he  does  not  have  the  means  of  supporting  the  church. 
And  if  he  does  not  have  the  means,  his  will  to  support 
the  church  will  be  ineffective. 

In  the  third  place,  the  prosperous  rural  church  re- 
quires a  reasonably  stable  population.  So  much  of 
the  Christian  life  lies  in  Christian  relations  with  neigh- 
bors, with  employees,  with  employers,  with  the  whole 
community  life,  that  a  roving  farm  population  cannot, 
even  if  it  would,  develop  Christian  graces  or  impress 
itself  favorably  on  a  community  of  unbelievers.  The 
farm  owner  who  has  moved  to  town  and  is  renting 
his  land  cannot  be  expected  to  be  a  real,  vital  force  in 


LAND  TENURE  AND  RURAL  CHURCH    233 

the  rural  church.  Nor  can  the  tenant  who  has  a  one- 
year  lease,  or  whose  tenure  is  uncertain,  be  expected 
to  cultivate  the  Christian  graces  by  intimate  fellow- 
ship with  his  neighbors  and  associates  or  fellow  church- 
members;  in  other  words,  to  take  root  in  the  com- 
munity and  become  a  part  of  it. 

One  thing  more.  The  prosperous  country  church 
requires  that  there  be  an  agreement  among  the  mem- 
bers as  to  the  big  things  for  which  the  church  stands: 
the  sinfulness  of  men;  the  possibility  of  redemption 
from  sinfulness;  growth  in  Christian  graces;  the  ef- 
ficiency of  the  gospel  to  make  better  husbands,  better  . 
wives,  better  parents,  better  children,  better  farmers, 
better  business  men,  better  neighbors,  better  citizens. 
Success  need  not  be  expected  if  minor  things  of  which 
Jesus  said  nothing  and  upon  which  the  apostles  laid 
no  emphasis,  such  as  forms  of  church  government  and 
modes  of  baptism,  are  regarded  as  the  essential  things 
for  which  the  church  stands.  If  the  church  is  to  be 
successful,  there  must  be  toward  these  matters  a  body 
of  sentiment  which  makes  hearty  cooperation  and 
Christian  fellowship  possible. 

These,  as  I  see  it,  are  the  conditions  of  the  pros- 
perous rural  church.  These  conditions  prevailed 
when  the  rural  church  was  in  the  height  of  its  pros- 
perity in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century.  There 
was  then  a  dense  population  per  square  mile  in  the 
settled  portions  of  the  country,  because  the  farmer 
was  then  a  child  of  the  woods,  hewing  his  way  pain- 
fully through  the  forests  of  the  Eastern  and  Middle 
States,  and  requiring  a  lifetime  to  clear  up  a  quarter 


234  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

section  or  even  an  eighty.  He  was  a  man  of  the  ax 
and  cradle  and  scythe  and  flail.  Rural  congregations 
were  large  then;  and  the  spirit  of  the  farmer  of  that 
day  is  reflected  in  the  names  that  he  gave  to  his  church, 
— names  fragrant  of  the  spirit  of  piety  and  devotion 
and  showing  close  acquaintance  with  the  Bible, — 
Bethel,  Rehoboth,  Mount  Zion,  Ebenezer. 

There  was  then  no  pull  to  the  city,  for  the  cities 
were  small,  as  they  must  needs  be,  since  there  was  not 
the  wherewithal  to  feed  a  large  city  population,  nor 
adequate  means  of  transportation.  Labor  was  cheap, 
land  was  cheap,  living  was  cheap;  and  the  farm  was 
mainly  a  means  of  supporting  a  large  family  cheaply. 
There  were  no  landlords,  no  tenants.  While  no  one 
was  getting  rich,  all  but  the  incompetent  were  getting 
ahead,  and  the  minister  was  the  outstanding  big  man 
in  the  community — "  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend  " 
to  all,  a  consoler  in  sickness  or  sorrow,  an  adviser  in 
trouble.  There  was  unity  as  to  the  great  doctrines 
of  Christianity.  Not  that  all  were  agreed;  but  the 
various  nationalities,  with  their  forms  of  worship  and 
religious  thought  and  customs,  grouped  themselves  to- 
gether in  localities — the  Pennsylvania  Dutch  here,  the 
Scotch  and  Scotch-Irish  there,  the  Quakers  elsewhere, 
the  Yankees  in  other  groups. 

All  this  changed  when  the  farmer  emerged  from 
the  woods  and  drew  long  furrows  in  the  rich,  fertile 
soil  of  the  prairies;  and  still  greater  was  the  change 
when,  at  the  close  of  the  war,  the  government  gave 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  at  the  cost  of 
surveying  ($1.25  an  acre)  to  any  landless  man  in  the 


LAND  TENURE  AND  RURAL  CHURCH    235 

wide  world  who  wanted  it  and  who  would  become 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

Then  began  the  rush  for  these  cheap  lands,  a  rush 
from  New  England,  from  the  Middle  States,  from  the 
South,  and  from  Europe.  The  farming  population 
began  a  game  of  leap-frog.  The  church  organizations, 
awake  to  the  importance  of  securing  a  foothold  in  this 
new  land,  pushed  their  missionary  enterprises,  aiming 
to  occupy  strategic  points.  These  missionary  opera- 
tions were  not  for  the  conversion  of  the  unsaved  or 
of  the  stranger;  they  resulted  in  the  transfer  of 
church-members  from  the  older  countries  to  the  new 
and  in  grouping  them  together  in  the  choicest  por- 
tions of  this  newly  opened  paradise.  The  result  was 
a  mingling  together  of  men  who,  while  they  agreed 
on  fundamentals,  gave  special  importance  to  distinc- 
tives;  and  a  still  further  result  was  the  overchurching 
of  the  entire  prairie  country. 

Then  the  rural  church  began  to  decline;  for  the 
introduction  of  railroads  and  of  farm  machinery  and 
a  far  greater  use  of  horse  power  decreased  rural  popu- 
lation per  square  mile.  It  has  constantly  been  decreas- 
ing ever  since  from  purely  economic  causes.  Still  the 
rural  church  did  fairly  well,  although  gradually  de- 
clining in  the  size  and  number  of  congregations,  until 
the  last  thirty  years,  when  another  set  of  economic 
conditions  began  to  render  it  less  efficient. 

When  thoughtful  men  began  to  see  that  there  was 
no  more  choice  land  to  be  given  away ;  when  the  great 
growth  of  city  population  not  merely  in  the  United 
States  but  in  the  Old  World  (the  result  of  cheap  food 


2z(i  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

furnished  by  the  farmers  of  the  United  States  at  less 
than  the  cost  of  growing  it)  began  to  bring  the  price 
of  grain  up  to  the  cost  of  production  and  above  it,  land 
began  to  advance.  In  the  corn  belt,  the  wheat  belt, 
and  the  fruit  belt  land  has  increased  at  the  rate  of 
about  ten  per  cent,  per  annum. 

The  country  church  then  began  to  decline  more  rap- 
idly. Farmers  began  to  rent  their  farms  and  move  to 
town.  Capitalists  began  to  invest  in  lands  as  soon  as 
the  net  income  would  equal  the  interest  on  savings, 
and  speculators  began  to  buy  land  far  in  advance  of 
its  productive  value,  on  the  assumption  that  this  ten 
per  cent,  per  annum  increase  in  price  would  continue. 
One  result  of  this  was  an  enormous  increase  in  ten- 
ancy, until  about  thirty-seven  and  one  half  per  cent, 
of  the  tillable  lands  of  the  United  States  was  farmed 
by  tenants.  In  the  corn  belt  from  forty  to  fifty  per 
cent,  of  the  land  is  farmed  by  tenants,  and  in  the 
cotton  belt  from  fifty  to  seventy  per  cent. 

Meanwhile  the  use  of  improved  machinery  and  of 
horse  power  instead  of  man  power  tended  to  increase 
the  size  of  farms  and  to  decrease  the  population  per 
square  mile.  A  recent  investigation  by  the  Iowa  Agri- 
cultural Department  shows  that,  while  the  increase  in 
the  size  of  farms  that  are  farmed  by  their  owners  is 
less  than  four  per  cent.,  the  increase  in  the  size  of  those 
farmed  by  tenants  is  sixteen  per  cent.  It  shows  fur- 
ther that  in  sections  in  which  land  is  bought  for  specu- 
lation tenancy  has  increased  very  rapidly.  We  have 
three  main  classes  of  landlords :  retired  farmers, 
capitalists,  and  speculators,  or  speculating  capitalists; 


LAND  TENURE  AND  RURAL  CHURCH    237 

and  the  lands  of  all  these  classes  are  necessarily 
farmed  by  tenants. 

Inasmuch  as  we  have  not  yet  really  begun  to  farm 
in  the  West,  but  are  simply  mining  our  soil  and  selling 
its  fertility  (at  present  at  a  profit),  the  tenure  of  the 
tenant  is  mainly  for  one  year;  this  condition  makes 
about  forty-five  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  the 
open  country  in  Iowa  more  or  less  unstable.  The 
tenant  who  goes  into  a  new  community  for  a  year  does 
not  usually  aline  himself  with  a  church  unless  he  is  a 
man  of-  very  positive  religious  convictions.  Neither 
does  the  church  look  upon  the  tenant  as  anything 
more  than  a  pilgrim  and  a  stranger,  and  hence  it  is 
apt  to  think  it  not  worth  while  to  gather  him  into  the 
fold. 

Another  influence  is  powerfully  effective.  Mem- 
bers of  churches  who  bought  land,  especially  in  the 
corn  belt,  at  from  $25  to  $50  an  acre  thirty  years  ago, 
could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  harvest  the  un- 
earned increment  and  invest  it  in  the  newer  lands  of 
the  spring  wheat  belt,  or  the  plains,  or  the  Northwest. 
They  moved  to  the  new  country,  taking  their  families 
with  them.  This  has  decreased  the  financial  ability 
of  the  congregation  of  the  country  church,  has  reduced 
the  salary  of  the  minister  to  the  starvation  point,  or 
has  perhaps  compelled  the  congregation  to  have  preach- 
ing for  but  one  half  or  one  third  of  the  time,  and,  in 
certain  sections,  for  only  one  fourth  of  the  time.  This 
deprives  the  community  of  the  pastoral  labor  and  the 
example  of  a  Christian  leader  and  his  family;  and 
the  result  is  that  the  church  declines  and  then  dies. 


238  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

In  fact,  the  churches  in  the  towns  of  the  com  belt  are 
largely  built  up  by  the  removal  of  members  of  country 
churches  to  the  towns. 

The  farms  are  becoming  larger,  and  the  population 
of  the  rural  community  smaller  and  more  unstable 
because  of  tenantry.  The  population  remaining  is 
divided  up  into  various  denominations  and  sects 
through  difference  of  opinion  about  church  govern- 
ment and  baptism  and  other  things,  the  inheritance  of 
a  past  generation,  but  of  which  Christ  said  little  or 
nothing  and  on  which  the  example  of  the  apostles 
differs. 

There  are  two  remedies  for  this  condition,  one  in- 
dustrial and  the  other  spiritual.  Neither  is  capable 
of  instant  application,  but  each  is  certainly  applicable 
in  the  somewhat  distant  future.  The  first  is  such  a 
system  of  leasing  as  will  make  the  tenant  a  reasonably 
permanent  citizen  in  the  community, — in  other  words, 
longer  leases.  There  is  nothing  permanent  in  this 
world,  for  as  the  poet  has  said : 

**  Pale  death  treads  with  equal  foot 
The  palace  of  the  rich 
And  the  hovels  of  the  poor." 

So  he  "  treads  with  equal  foot "  in  our  day  the  home 
of  the  landlord  and  the  home  of  the  tenant. 

Tenancy  is  not  in  itself  an  evil,  but  uncertainty  of 
tenure  and  short  leases  are  evils  that  vex  humanity. 
We  cannot  expect  to  see  a  prosperous  rural  church 
until  the  tenant  can  make  some  arrangement  with  his 
landlord  by  which  he  can  stay  on  the  same  farm  in- 
definitely, take  root  in  the  community,  become  an  ac- 


LAND  TENURE  AND  RURAL  CHURCH    239 

tive  member  of  the  church,  and  make  of  his  children 
real  members  of  the  Sunday-school  and  rural  school. 

Economic  causes  themselves  will  force  upon  the 
landowner  this  system  of  longer  leases.  The  constant 
decrease  of  soil  fertility  through  the  bad  farming  of 
the  short-lease  tenant  and  the  fact  now  becoming  evi- 
dent that  it  is  more  profitable  to  the  enterprising 
farmer  to  rent  land  than  to  own  it,  must  work  for  the 
greater  permanency  of  the  tenant.  The  first  will  wipe 
out  speculation  and  reduce  land  values  in  the  richer 
sections  until  it  will  be  possible  for  the  tenant  by  rent- 
ing land  to  become  the  owner  of  the  land.  This  will 
give  us  a  stable  population  and  greatly  increase  the 
efficiency  of  the  rural  church. 

The  second  remedy  is  in  the  change  of  view  of  the 
Christian  ideal.  In  the  pioneer  days  the  ideal  of  Chris- 
tianity was  the  salvation  of  the  individual  soul. 
Those  were  the  days  of  the  circuit-riders,  of  pro- 
tracted meetings  and  basket  meetings,  and  sometimes 
of  hypnotic  influence  which  passed  for  the  work  of 
the  Spirit. 

As  the  country  became  settled  and  the  farmer 
ceased  to  be  a  nomad,  the  ideal  of  Christianity  was 
that  of  the  Christian  family.  Large  families  were  to 
be  reared  cheaply  on  low-priced  land  owned  by  the 
farmer  himself;  they  were  to  be  baptized,  catechized, 
and  pastorally  visited,  all  in  the  expectation  that  when 
they  came  to  years  of  maturity  they  would  take  upon 
themselves  the  vows  of  the  parents.  If  infant  baptism 
was  not  practiced,  it  was  thought  that  the  growing 
children  would  become  members  of  the  church  through 


240  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

immersion.  In  those  days  the  church  was  an  aggre- 
gation of  these  famihes,  and  the  minister  was  ex- 
pected to  voice  the  doctrinal  convictions  of  the  mem- 
bers. He  was  not  expected  to  pay  much  attention  to 
community  salvation. 

We  must  now  get  back  to  the  original  Christian 
idea:  that  salvation  is  for  every  man  and  for  every 
part  of  the  man — body,  soul,  and  spirit;  that  it  involves 
loving  ''  thy  neighbor  as  thyself,"  and  cooperation  in 
every  good  work  instead  of  competition.  When  the 
rural  church  gets  a  firm  hold  of  this  idea  and  insists 
on  the  great  essentials  of  Christianity — free  salvation 
to  all  who  will  accept  it,  temperance,  righteousness, 
judgment  to  come, — ^people  who  have  the  love  of  God 
in  their  hearts  will  be  drawn  together,  and  they  will 
forget  about  the  differences  that  have  separated  them 
and  rendered  them  inefficient. 

I  have  great  hope  of  the  union  of  churches;  for 
churches  do  not  believe  in  their  distinctive  principles 
sufficiently  to  carry  them  to  their  logical  conclusion. 
And  the  life  of  the  church  is  not  after  all  in  the  things 
upon  which  churches  differ,  but  in  those  on  which  they 
agree.  When  it  comes  to  these,  Ephraim  will  no 
longer  covet  Judah  nor  Judah  vex  Ephraim,  but  com- 
bining their  forces,  they  will  advance  on  the  Philis- 
tines and  win  the  unbelievers. 

As  it  is  now,  not  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  people  living 
in  the  open  country  attend  church  with  any  degree  of 
regularity.  Why  should  they,  unless  religion  is  so 
taught  that  it  bears  upon  their  farming,  upon  their 
trading,  upon  their  home  life,  upon  their  recreations? 


LAND  TENURE  AND  RURAL  CHURCH    241 

Really,  it  is  not  worth  while  for  the  churches  to 
spend  money  to  propagate  what  are  known  as  their 
distinctive  principles.  One  sort  of  church  government 
works  out  practically  about  the  same  as  all  the  rest, 
and  none  of  them  have  any  Scriptural  warrant.  The 
ethical  code,  the  real  spiritual  life  of  the  churches,  is 
much  the  same  in  all  its  branches,  including  the 
Catholic. 

The  thing  for  the  church  to  do  is  to  get  a  vision 
of  the  gospel  that  fits  like  a  self -grown  garment  or 
covering  to  every  part  of  life.  A  reasonably  perma- 
nent tenure  of  lands  by  ownership  or  by  lease  will  do 
much  to  advance  the  kingdom  of  God;  but  the  great 
push  will  come  from  a  higher  ideal  of  Christianity  and 
the  Christian  life.  This  will  draw  or  pull  those  who 
are  really  hungry  and  who  feel  in  their  bitter  mo- 
ments that  no  man  careth  for  their  souls. 

Even  though  the  rural  church  should  make  great 
advance,  it  will  not  have  the  large  congregations  of 
fifty  or  seventy-five  or  a  hundred  years  ago  because 
the  people  are  not  there.  Farming  will  be  more  pro- 
ductive than  ever  before  when  we  really  learn  how  to 
farm;  and  the  church  will  then  be  on  an  economic 
basis.  The  wiping  out  of  divisions  over  things  that 
really  do  not  matter  will  unify  the  sentiment  not 
merely  of  the  churches  but  of  the  people  who  have  not 
heretofore  united  themselves  with  the  church.  A  re- 
ligion that  appeals  both  to  the  intellect  and  the  emo- 
tions, that  can  sanctify  the  sports  and  recreation  of 
the  people,  will  have  a  powerful  drawing  influence 
over  the  farmer.    For  the  farmer  is  at  heart  a  religious 


242  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

man,  whether  he  belongs  to  the  church  or  not.  He 
responds  promptly  to  every  appeal  to  his  better  nature. 
He  is  not  interested  in  "  higher  criticism  "  or  in  theo- 
logical speculation.  He  is  not  the  least  interested  in 
negations.  He  lives  too  near  God  for  that.  A  church 
united  on  the  fundamentals,  and  with  a  reasonably 
permanent  tenure  of  lands  by  ownership  or  lease,  will 
enable  us  in  time  to  build  up  a  civilization  on  the 
prairies  and  the  cleared  timber  lands  more  satisfying 
than  that  which  can  be  found  anywhere  else  on  earth. 


THE  INTERDEPENDENCE  OF  GOOD 
FARMING  AND  GOOD  PREACHING 

George  N.  Luccock 

The  farm  problem  is  not  solved  by  a  satisfactory 
return  at  the  market,  and  the  preacher's  task  is  not 
consummated  in  the  praise  of  pulpit  performance. 
Both  farmer  and  preacher  are  vitally  concerned,  and 
with  tremendous  mutual  interest,  in  a  great  life  move- 
ment. At  bottom,  both  men's  responsibility  is  how 
to  make  the  country  a  better  place  to  live,  and  better 
people  to  live  there.  Good  buildings,  good  fences  and 
fields,  good  soil,  good  crops,  good  stock,  good  mar- 
kets, good  roads,  and  like  things  are  all  worth  while 
and  to  be  striven  after  as  means  to  good  living  among 
good  people. 

After  all,  the  big  thing  in  the  country,  to  be  reached 


GOOD  FARMING  AND  GOOD  PREACHING     243 

there  as  elsewhere  by  adapted  methods,  is  just  like  the 
big  objective  in  the  city  or  wherever  men  and  women 
and  boys  and  girls  live.  Human  nature  is  the  same 
everywhere,  and  the  fundamental  good  is  the  common 
need  of  all.  And  God  has  shown  us  what  is  good, 
and  one  who  spoke  for  him  put  that  good  into  very 
beautiful  words.  To  do  justly  and  to  love  mercy  and 
to  walk  humbly  with  God — that  is  the  great  community 
ideal.  That  is  good  farming  and  that  is  good  preach- 
ing which  combine  to  produce  that  ideal.  That  ideal 
worked  out  in  daily  life  will  make  landowner  and 
tenant  happier  in  each  other,  will  sweeten  the  relation 
between  those  who  hire  and  those  who  are  hired,  will 
provide  for  the  poor  and  the  stranger,  and  tend  to 
make  all  human  life  the  expression  of  divine  life  in 
that  best  of  all  environments,  God's  wonderful  out- 
of-doors. 

The  indispensable  inspirational  center  for  such  liv- 
ing is  the  farmer-supported  country  church.  The  man 
with  the  plow  and  the  man  with  the  Book  must  be 
mated  for  effective  team  work.  Each  must  be  sensi- 
tive to  the  mood  and  method  of  the  other,  or  friction 
and  wasted  energy  and  disheartening  results  will 
follow.  The  preacher  who  uses  his  country  pulpit  as 
a  practice  park  for  the  city  game,  dreaming,  amid 
the  fields,  of  promotion  away  from  them,  is  the  same 
sort  of  a  hinderer  to  good  living  in  the  country  as  the 
farmer  who  takes  his  family  in  the  automobile  past  the 
cross-roads  church  to  the  fashion-filled  pews  of  the 
city  church.  The  net  result  is  a  discouraged  preacher 
and  a  discontented  neighborhood.     No  preacher  was 


244  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

ever  ordained  to  break  his  heart  and  batter  out  his 
brains  on  the  backs  of  empty  pews.  Farmers  who 
neglect  their  community  churches  are  doing  their  best 
to  depress  the  value  of  land  by  filling  country  pulpits 
with  depressed  preachers. 

Of  all  men  the  progressive  farmer  is  best  furnished 
to  appreciate  team  work.  Students  of  the  soil  tell 
us  that  in  the  beneficence  of  our  Heavenly  Father 
vast  stores  of  plant  food  are  already  present  in  the 
bosom  of  mother  earth,  ready  for  the  uses  of  the 
infant  plant.  Certain  important  elements  must  be  pro- 
vided by  the  beneficiary  of  earth's  bounty.  It  has 
been  found  further  that  plant  growth  is  limited  by 
the  lowest  element  in  the  supply  of  plant  food.  Even 
a  superabundance  of  phosphorus  and  nitrogen  will  not 
produce  their  best  unless  adequately  supplemented  by 
potash.  The  lack  of  one  element  actually  limits  the 
efficiency  of  the  other  elements  present  in  such  abun- 
dance. You  cannot  get  capacity  service  from,  even  the 
most  vital  element  of  plant  food  save  in  combination 
with  its  proper  supplements.  The  same  law  of  inter- 
dependence governs,  in  a  larger  way,  the  relations  be- 
tween the  parson  and  the  plowman.  Neither  can 
render  capacity  service  to  the  community  except  in 
combination  with  the  other. 

So  simple  a  matter  as  the  faithful,  loyal  attendance 
of  the  farmer  and  his  family  upon  the  services  of  the 
community  church  quickens  the  preacher  to  his  pulpit 
best.  The  assurance  of  that  attendance  stimulates  him 
in  the  whole  process  of  preparing  his  sermons,  glad- 
dens him  in  all  the  round  of  his  pastoral  work.     For 


GOOD  FARMING  AND  GOOD  PREACHING     245 

all  his  hard  labor  in  the  study  he  cannot  be  one  hundred 
per  cent,  efficient  in  the  pulpit  without  the  support  of 
his  people,  any  more  than  phosphorus  can  be  one  hun- 
dred per  cent,  efficient  without  the  support  of  sufficient 
companion  elements  of  plant  food.  I  can  take  you  to 
farms  all  over  the  country  where  people  have  covered 
their  land  with  expensive  fertilizer  without  getting 
commensurate  returns  for  their  labor  and  their  sacri- 
fice, because  the  returns  from  the  things  they  provided 
are  limited  by  the  lack  of  the  things  they  failed  to  pro- 
vide. And  I  can  take  you  to  country  churches  where 
some  of  the  ablest  and  hardest  working  of  the  Mas- 
ter's servants  are  wearing  themselves  out  in  fruitless 
toil  because  so  many  of  the  farmers  will  not  supple- 
ment that  great  element  in  community  betterment  by 
keeping  up  church  attendance.  And  whether  in  town 
or  city,  the  man  who  habitually  neglects  church  atten- 
dance is  doing  his  wicked  best  to  blight  the  land  with 
the  curse  of  a  churchless  community. 

Turning  now  to  the  other  part  of  this  team,  I  wish 
to  state  clearly  that  good  preaching  is  equally  indis- 
pensable to  the  most  fruitful  farming.  Without  what 
the  preacher  gives  him  no  farmer  can  be  at  his  best. 
He  also  needs  heart  for  his  work.  For  one  thing,  the 
blue  devils  seem  to  have  a  particular  spite  toward  the 
farmer.  Anyhow,  he  does  more  complaining  about  the 
weather  than  any  other  citizen  in  the  kingdom  of  God. 
And  like  every  other  mortal  he  needs  to  be  sharply 
summoned  from  the  sordid. 

The  greatest  service  a  preacher  can  be  to  a  farmer 
is  not  to  teach  him  how  to  raise  better  crops.     The 


246  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

preacher  ought  to  inspire  the  farmers  to  become  so  ex- 
pert in  their  calHng  that  he  himself  will  feel  but  an 
amateur  in  their  presence.  That,  I'm  saying,  is  the 
ideal.  His  contribution  to  the  forces  of  fruitfulness 
in  their  common  task  is  different  from  theirs.  Some- 
times men  of  the  soil  become  so  obsessed  by  the  idea 
of  green  manuring  that  this  becomes  the  panacea  for 
all  land  complaints.  And  there  are  times  when  the 
sick  land,  if  it  had  a  voice,  would  cry  out  to  the  plow- 
man, "  For  the  land's  sake,  quit  it.  I've  got  all  the 
green  stuff  I  want.  Give  me  some  more  potash  and  a 
whole  lot  more  phosphorus."  And  a  situation  can  very 
easily  be  imagined  in  which  the  precious  half  hour  of 
the  pulpit  was  perverted  to  a  learned  argument  on  soil 
improvement,  and  the  work-weary  audience  of  farmers 
felt  like  crying  right  out  in  meeting,  ''  For  goodness' 
sake,  parson,  quit  it.  We  have  all  the  green  stuff  now 
that  we  want  without  your  handing  us  any  more. 
Give  us  something  for  mind  and  heart." 

But  while  the  farmer  does  not  need  a  preacher  to 
tell  him  how  to  raise  better  crops,  or  teach  him  better 
farm  management,  or  to  be  to  him  the  advance  agent  of 
newer  methods,  the  preacher  can  and  ought  to  be  an 
inspiration  to  the  farmer  in  all  that  has  to  do  with 
making  him  more  successful  in  subduing  the  earth. 
The  preacher  ought  to  make  himself  intelligent  on  the 
occupations  and  ambitions  of  his  people.  He  ought  to 
be  in  fullest  sympathy  with  them  in  their  tasks 
and  problems.  He  ought  to  be  the  first  to  warm 
up  to  forward  movements  and  to  praise  a  success- 
ful experiment.     He  ought  to  be  a  man  of   vision 


GOOD  FARMING  AND  GOOD  PREACHING     247 

for  his  community,  seeing  clearest  and  feeling  deepest 
where  old  customs  retard  progress,  and  making 
vivid  the  promise  of  better  things.  He,  better 
than  any  other  man  in  the  township,  should  be 
able  to  inspire  the  youth  of  the  neighborhood  with 
a  great  and  growing  love  for  the  land.  He  himself, 
beyond  the  power  of  his  sermons,  by  his  mere  presence, 
whether  in  church  or  in  the  fields  or  in  the  homes  or 
on  the  road,  should  quicken  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
whole  community  for  the  chance  God  gives  to  them 
there.  He  must  love  farming  and  love  farm  people 
so  deeply  and  genuinely  that  when  they  see  him  draw 
near  they  will  feel  the  approach  of  good  cheer.  Just 
as  the  farmer's  presence  in  the  pew  reacts  on  the  pulpit, 
quickening  the  preacher  to  a  better  sermon,  so  the 
farmer  feeling  the  optimism  of  the  preacher  will  both 
plow  a  straighter  furrow  and  put  more  heart  into  his 
task,  not  because  of  the  man  himself,  but  because  of 
a  heightened  sense  of  the  values  of  life,  unconsciously 
suggested  by  the  man  whose  calling  it  is  to  guide  men 
in  the  walk  with  God. 

The  very  calling  of  the  preacher,  with  the  whole 
church  program,  honored  in  a  community  beyond  any 
other  influence,  strengthens  the  tie  that  binds  the  lad 
to  the  land.  No  worth-while  young  fellow  ever  left 
the  country  because  of  its  hard  work.  He  left  because 
of  the  feeling  that  life  elsewhere  was  not  easier,  but 
better,  more  worth  while,  less  narrow  and  choking, 
more  free  and  gladsome.  He  was  driven  by  a  craving 
for  something  he  was  not  getting  in  the  country.  He 
felt  life  had  something  he  was  losing. 


248  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

Here  is  the  preacher's  supreme  chance  to  serve  the 
farmer.  Certainly  he  will  be  a  leader  in  all  social 
activities,  in  institutes,  in  lecture  courses,  in  all  com- 
munity betterment  movements.  But  back  of  and  under 
and  working  through  all  these  he  will  be  something 
bigger.  He  will  as  a  good  minister  of  Jesus  Christ 
be  interpreting  life  in  terms  of  the  higher  good,  in 
terms  of  service,  keeping  ever  before  him  the  mark 
for  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus.  And  he  will  find  that  the  farmer  is  his  best 
ally,  that  the  very  laws  of  successful  soil  tillage  are 
likewise  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  laws  of 
the  spiritual  Hfe. 

To  the  old  adage  that  there  is  no  excellence  without 
great  labor,  modern  agriculture  has  added  the  realiza- 
tion that  there  is  no  excellence  without  great  sacrifice. 
It  is  indeed  quite  indispensable  that  the  preacher  to 
farm  people  be  able  to  give  his  message  in  terms  of 
farm  life  and  experience.  But  to  be  able  to  do  that 
spontaneously  and  helpfully  he  must  first  of  all  see 
nature  herself  in  terms  of  theology.  No  one  can 
teach  theology,  or,  if  you  please,  preach  the  gospel,  in 
terms  of  agricultural  thinking  who  is  not  first  fas- 
cinated by  the  spiritual  lessons  taught  by  agriculture 
to  his  own  heart. 

Let  me  here  bear  my  testimony  to  the  homiletic 
value  of  a  course  of  reading  along  the  line  of  scien- 
tific farming.  For  several  years,  besides  books  and 
bulletins,  I  have  read,  with  keenest  interest,  a  half 
dozen  farm  papers  every  week,  and  to  me  no  line  of 
reading  has  been  equally  stimulating  in  pulpit  prepara- 


GOOD  FARMING  AND  GOOD  PREACHING     249 

tion.  Any  preacher,  in  the  city  or  in  the  country,  will 
both  know  and  feel  the  meaning  of  his  Bible  better  by 
some  initiative  into  the  secrets  of  the  soil. 

And  I  think  the  preacher  who  is  a  specialist  to  the 
country  church  may  be  and  of  right  ought  to  be  for 
years  to  come  the  best  read  man  on  agriculture  in  the 
community.  For  one  thing,  he  has  time  to  read,  time 
when  he  is  not  too  physically  exhausted  to  enjoy  read- 
ing, and  he  has  the  trained  habit  of  reading.  For 
another  thing,  this  reading  is  in  line  with  the  most 
immediate  interests  of  his  people,  and  it  is  also  directly 
in  line  with  his  own  high  spiritual  calling.  Such  read- 
ing gives  him  a  richer  acquaintance  with  God  and 
therefore  manifolds  his  spiritual  power. 

For  example,  one  of  the  commonest  newer  words  in 
the  vocabulary  of  the  farm  to-day  is  humus.  But 
humus  is  just  agricultural  self-denial,  the  great  sacri- 
fice hit  in  the  big  game  with  nature.  Htunus  produces 
a  condition  in  which  the  soil  below  is  aerated,  has  a 
chance  to  breathe,  and  the  life  that  is  there  gets  its 
liberty.  Besides,  it  sets  free  certain  elements  of  plant 
food  already  there,  but  not  hitherto  available.  Just 
watch  a  man  with  a  plow  turning  down  his  splendid 
clover  field  and  sacrificing  tons  of  valuable  hay !  But 
suppose  that  turning  it  under  results  in  so  much  better 
soil  condition  that  he  doubles  his  corn  crop ! 

But  there  you  have  the  heart  of  the  gospel.  If  ever 
it  seemed  that  the  world  was  losing  much  by  a  life 
sacrifice,  it  was  when  Jesus  Christ  was  crucified  in 
early  manhood.  But  that  was  love's  way  of  renewing 
the  womout  soil  of  human  hearts  by  the  humus  of 


250  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

heaven.  What  world  liberties  followed  that  sacrifice! 
What  elements  of  strength  were  set  free  for  world 
service,  elements  of  power  already  there  but  not  hith- 
erto available. 

When  people  get  hold  of  that  gospel,  whether  in  the 
country  or  in  the  city,  life  has  a  new  meaning,  work 
has  a  new  meaning,  harvests  have  a  new  value.  For 
therein  is  revealed  the  greatest  of  all  secrets  of  suc- 
cess, namely,  the  wonderful  law  of  conversion  of 
values.  No  man  wants  to  work  for  nothing,  and  nature 
does  not  ask  any  man  to  work  for  nothing;  but  rather 
good  measure,  pressed  down,  shaken  together,  and  run- 
ning over,  does  nature  give  back  to  a  man's  bosom. 
Suppose  a  man  takes  hold  of  a  field  that  never  pro- 
duced more  than  fifteen  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre 
and  makes  it  yield  twenty-five.  Of  course  he  is  ten 
bushels  an  acre  happier  by  bin  measure.  But  he  has 
a  bosom  as  well  as  a  bin.  And  by  the  bosom  measure 
he  is  away  ahead  of  the  game.  He  swells  with  a 
proper  pride.  He  has  surprised  the  neighbors,  and  that 
is  worth  while.  He  has  made  good  in  his  venture. 
His  sacrifice  has  justified  itself.  And  there  is  joy  in 
that.  But  best  of  all,  he  has  proved  the  promises  of 
nature,  and  there  is  thrill  there,  the  birth  of  a  larger 
hope.  He  had  heard  the  cry  of  the  neglected  and  mis- 
treated earth, — -'  Bring  ye  all  the  points  of  efficiency 
in  soil  management, — a  properly  prepared  seed-bed, 
and  a  balanced  ration  of  plant  food,  that  there  may 
be  food  in  my  furrows  and  prove  me  now  herewith 
if  I  will  not  open  tO'  you  the  secrets  of  the  soil  and 
grow  you  a  harvest  such  as  your  bins  shall  not  be  able 


GOOD  FARMING  AND  GOOD  PREACHING      251 

to  contain  it."  And  because  he  made  good  in  his  ven- 
ture, nature  made  good  in  her  promises.  No  trouble 
about  keeping  that  boy  on  the  farm.  You  could  not 
pry  him  loose.  What's  happened  ?  Well,  something's 
happened  to  his  bins.  They  are  fuller.  But  something 
bigger  has  happened  to  his  bosom.  He  has  a  new  faith 
in  nature.  He  is  willing  to  trust  her.  Willing?  Nay, 
he  finds  the  good  and  the  glory  of  life  in  becoming  a 
colaborer  with  nature. 

That's  one  lesson.  Here's  another  and  a  bit  deeper. 
One  gets  another  kind  of  return  to  his  bosom  by  his 
investment,  and  learns  a  little  more  of  the  great  law  of 
the  conversion  of  values.  A  man  sends  his  boy  to 
college  and  expects  value  received  on  a  pretty  big  in- 
vestment. But  he  does  not  expect  that  value  to  come 
back  to  his  bins  or  to  his  bank  account.  It  comes  back 
to  his  bosom,  and  he  has  learned  how  much  more 
money  is  worth  than  the  bank  balance  shows.  And 
no  man  is  a  good  farmer  until  he  has  increased  the 
productiveness  of  the  land  as  he  ought  to  do,  and  devel- 
oped his  marketing  efficiency  as  he  ought  to  do,  and  in 
addition  to  all  that  learned  to  put  the  right  valuation 
on  his  dollars.  And  the  farmer  who  has  this  higher 
sense  of  the  worth  of  a  dollar,  and  is  not  satisfied  until 
he  has  realized  its  bosom  value  in  the  service  of  his 
fellow  man,  is  the  man  God  meant  for  the  farm. 

How  slow  we  all  are  to  accept  progress  under  the 
law  of  self-sacrifice!  We  want  to  pay  little  and  get 
much.  And  we  keep  forever  trying  to  beat  down  the 
price.  Out  yonder  in  the  field,  the  farmer  is  asking  the 
price  of  a  hundred  bushels  of  corn  per  acre.     "  Tell 


252  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

me,  O  field,  the  price  of  one  hundred  bushels  of  corn 
per  acre."  And  across  the  face  of  the  field  there 
sweeps  a  rippling  smile  as  it  had  been  the  face  of  an 
angel.  For  the  earth  is  the  Lord's  and  glows  with  the 
good-will  of  God,  eager  to  give  bread  to  the  eater  and 
seed  to  the  sower.  The  price?  ''  Just  one  price  to  all. 
First  the  plow  and  then  the  harrow  and  every  tool  to 
make  a  proper  seed-bed.  Plenty  of  air  by  proper 
drainage.  Plenty  of  plant  food  for  the  increasing 
needs  of  the  growing  grain.  And  then  you  must  keep 
plowing  to  kill  the  weeds,  and  more  important  than  that 
to  conserve  my  moisture.  After  every  shower,  you 
must  break  up  my  surface,  else  the  capillary  chimneys 
will  let  the  moisture  escape,  and  PU  suffer  from  thirst 
when  the  summer  drought  comes."  And  then  the 
farmer  begins  to  press  down  the  price.  "  Can't  I," 
he  wheedles,  ''  can't  I  cut  out  some  of  those  cultiva- 
tions? We  shall  be  awfully  busy.  Father  used  to 
quit  tending  his  com  in  early  July.  And  can't  I  get 
along  with  a  little  less  fertilizer?  Times  are  hard. 
Taxes  are  terribly  high."  The  old  human  habit,  which 
we  call  jewing  down,  but  which  really  antedates  Ju- 
daism by  several  thousand  years,  asserts  itself  at  every 
demand  of  nature.  What  is  the  result?  A  reduction 
in  the  bushels  per  acre  exactly  in  proportion  to  beating 
down  the  price.  And  a  consequent  sterner  penalty 
comes  too, — a  relaxed  sensitiveness  to  the  value  of 
scientific  farming,  a  losing  out  in  the  larger  game  of 
agricultural  life.  On  the  other  hand  the  man  who 
gives  to  the  earth  his  best  will  find  the  earth  giving 
back  to  him,  good  measure,  pressed  down,  shaken  to- 


GOOD  FARMING  AND  GOOD  PREACHING     253 

gether,  and  running  over.  But  he  gets  back  vastly 
more  than  just  increase  in  kind.  He  gets  a  new  heart 
for  his  work.  He  gets  a  new  and  vaster  outlook  upon 
his  vocation.  He  gets  a  new  conception  of  his  place 
and  chance  in  the  scheme  of  things. 

Other  kinds  of  sacrifice  than  those  for  personal 
profit  come  with  their  call.  Higher  applications  of 
the  law  of  conversion  of  values  enter  his  thoughts. 
He  becomes  a  dreamer  of  dreams.  A  man  of  visions. 
He  gets  to  seeing  things  for  the  common  good.  The 
spirit  of  service  takes  hold  of  his  heart.  He  is  coming 
to  think  in  terms  of  ideals.  He  is  coming  to  place  a 
higher  value  upon  the  returns  that  come  back  to  his 
bosom  than  upon  those  that  come  back  to  his  bins. 
He  looks  beyond  an  increased  output  from  his  fields 
and  from  his  yards,  beyond  a  better  handling  of  the 
marketing  end  of  his  task,  beyond  his  own  better  house 
and  barn  and  better  equipment,  and  thinks  of  a  better 
schoolhouse,  of  a  better  church,  of  better  roads,  of  a 
more  beautiful  countryside,  of  shorter  days  in  the 
fields  and  longer  evenings  with  the  neighbors,  of  com- 
munity organization  not  only  for  its  own  higher  bene- 
fits but  for  the  higher  satisfactions  afforded  in  a  wider 
service. 

And  here  it  is  that  the  preacher's  best  and  the 
farmer's  best  are  merged  into  one.  For  here  it  is  that 
the  proper  ambition  of  the  one  and  the  proper  message 
of  the  other  find  their  common  ground.  For  just  as 
the  preacher  declares  that  Christ  sacrificing  himself 
to  rise  again  in  the  glory  of  a  fruitful  life 
is  the  hope  of  the  world,  so  the  farmer  finds  that 


254  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

except  a  grain  of  wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die 
it  abideth  alone,  and  that  to  sacrifice  one's  personal 
good  for  the  common  benefit  is  to  find — not  only  to 
find  that  life  again  but  to  find  it  in  a  better  world  to 
live  it  in. 

And  thus  working  together  this  man  of  the  Field 
and  this  man  of  the  Book  create  that  best  of  all  com- 
munity assets,  an  atmosphere  of  contentment  and 
peace,  an  atmosphere  in  which  one  thanks  God  to  have 
been  born  and  for  the  precious  privilege  of  abiding. 
And  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  that  let  the 
preacher  count  as  possibly  his  highest  privilege  to  go 
from  home  to  home  and  guide  the  household  devotions 
at  the  family  altar. 

Several  years  ago  I  journeyed  toward  a  peach  coun- 
try with  the  liveliest  anticipations  of  delight.  In  the 
morning  I  thought  my  eyes  would  be  feasting  on  thou- 
sands of  peach-trees  in  full  bloom.  But  that  very 
morning  there  came  a  killing  frost,  and  every  opening 
bud,  betrayed  into  bloom  by  the  false  promise  of 
spring,  was  caught  in  the  embrace  of  death.  Far  more 
tender  and  sensitive  to  the  chill  of  a  frigid  atmosphere 
than  the  delicate  bloom  of  peach-trees  is  the  heart  of 
a  child,  opening  to  the  will  of  God.  What  if  the 
warmth  and  glow  of  natural  affection  be  only  as  the 
false  promise  of  spring,  summoning  the  dormant  life 
of  undeveloped  mind  and  heart  into  the  bloom  of  self- 
consciousness,  of  intelligent  inquiry  as  to  life's  values, 
and  when  the  awakened  heart  of  the  child  turns  with 
glad  choice  toward  Christ,  the  Sun  of  righteousness, 
the  atmosphere  of  the  home,  instead  of  being  warm 


GOOD  FARMING  AND  GOOD  PREACHING     255 

and  fostering,   is  toward  the  eager  impulses  of  the 
child  like  the  dreadful  coming  of  a  frost  that  kills ! 

The  great  orchardists  are  finding  it  practicable  to 
prepare  against  the  sudden  frosts  that  often  in  a  night 
destroy  the  expectation  of  a  year  and  the  fair  promise 
of  a  favoring  springtime.  They  have  a  system  of 
heaters,  ready  for  instant  lighting,  distributed  through 
the  orchard  and  electrically  connected  with  ther- 
mometers among  the  trees  and  an  alarm  mechanism 
in  the  home,  so  that  when  the  temperature  approaches 
the  danger  point,  the  home  is  aroused  and  the  fires 
lighted;  immediately  the  ascending  smoke  among  the 
trees  arrests  the  descending  temperature  and  the  tender 
bloom  is  saved.  By  word  and  life  let  the  preacher 
say  to  the  farmer :  "  Are  not  children,  your  children, 
of  more  value  than  many  orchards  ?  "  God  has  placed 
in  the  home  the  most  delicate,  the  most  sensitive  of  all 
alarm  mechanisms, — a  mother's  heart.  Only  let  that  be 
connected  by  the  electric  current  of  watchful  love  with 
the  family  altar,  most  heavenly  of  all  heaters  in  the 
home,  and  the  ascending  incense  from  that  will  be 
potent  to  stay  the  descending  temperature  of  a  cold 
world  above  the  point  of  menace  to  the  life  of  the 
spirit. 


256  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

THE  FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  FEDERAL 
COUNCIL 

Shailer  Mathews 

The  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
America  is  a  body  composed  of  representative  officials 
drawn  from  thirty  different  Protestant  churches  or 
denominations,  and  represents  a  constituency  of  some- 
thing like  seventeen  million  church-members.  It  is 
not  seeking  to  produce  organic  union  among  these 
various  bodies,  but  to  help  each  to  represent  its  com- 
mon interest  in  those  great  tasks  which  those  who 
believe  in  Jesus  Christ  as  the  divine  Lord  must  face. 
Through  its  commissions  it  is  engaged  in  various  in- 
vestigative and  constructive  operations,  but  it  does  not 
seek  to  produce  any  minimum  creed  to  which  all  may 
assent.  It  is  not  a  theological  body,  but  believes  that 
the  way  evangelistic  Christians  can  get  together  is  for 
them  to  work  together. 

The  Federal  Council  represents  in  a  way  this  grow- 
ing spirit  of  cooperation  which  is  to  be  found  through- 
out the  United  States.  The  problems  which  Chris- 
tianity faces  are  both  local  and  national,  both  those 
of  thought  and  those  of  action.  The  Federal  Council 
has  no  panacea  for  the  difficulties  which  religion  must 
face,  but  it  does  undertake  to  express  the  common 
Christian  attitude  toward  such  problems  as  must  be 
faced  cooperatively  if  they  are  to  be  answered  ef- 
ficiently. 

During  the  past  year  the  Council  has  been  giving 


FUNCTIONS  OF  THE  FEDERAL  COUNCIL     257 

attention  to  such  highly  important  matters  as  the  ap- 
pHcation  of  Christianity  to  international  affairs,  the 
problems  and  future  of  the  rural  church,  the  advance- 
ment of  religious  education,  and  the  federation  of 
various  movements  which  have  themselves  undertaken 
to  unify  other  movements.  We  who  represent  this 
policy  are  not  intoxicated  by  any  theory  of  centraliza- 
tion. Much  less  do  we  undertake  to  exert  authority 
over  the  bodies  who  chose  our  constituent  members. 
We  do  believe,  however,  that  the  Christian  spirit  of 
the  United  States  must  find  its  expression  in  the  spirit 
of  social  transformation  and  the  evangelizing  of  the 
forces  which  are  to  reconstruct  the  various  communi- 
ties which  go  to  make  up  our  nation.  Certain  of  these 
forces  cannot  be  transformed.  They  must  be  de- 
stroyed. The  Christian  spirit  cannot  endure  the  exis- 
tence of  vice,  much  less  the  agencies  which  undertake 
to  make  commercial  profit  out  of  vice.  In  such  under- 
takings as  these,  doctrinal  differences  play  no  part. 
Hostility  to  evil  is  a  fundamental  trait  of  all  denomina- 
tions and  churches  in  Christianity. 

But  there  are  other  fields  into  which  our  Christian 
spirit  must  move,  where  destruction  is  less  important 
than  transformation.  The  present  crisis  in  the  world 
particularly  brings  home  to  us  the  need  of  the  applica- 
tion of  the  principles  of  Jesus  to  international  affairs. 
The  great  basis  on  which  we  stand  as  Christians  im- 
plies the  belief  that  Jesus  Christ  is  to  be  taken  seri- 
ously, that  his  teachings  have  application  to  nations 
as  truly  as  to  individuals,  that  the  extent  of  success 
we  have  already  reached  in  applying  them  to  economic 


258  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

questions  must  be  duplicated  and  exceeded  in  the  build- 
ing up  of  good-will  among  nations.  To  give  justice 
rather  than  to  fight  for  rights, — ^that  is  the  center  of 
the  ethical  teaching  of  Jesus,  and  such  sacrificial 
social-mindedness  must  be  the  aim  of  nations  as  well 
as  of  individuals.  That  which  concerns  us  as 
churches  is  not  primarily  peace,  but  that  attitude  of 
mind,  those  social  conditions,  those  economic  policies, 
upon  which  peace  depends.  The  Christian  is  not  a 
peace-at-any-price  man,  but  he  is  a  righteousness-at- 
any-price  man.  To  bring  this  into  our  national  life  is 
a  part  of  our  Christian  duty.  We  wish  to  keep  the 
church  absolutely  distinct  from  the  state,  but  we  do  not 
want  to  keep  Christianity  out  of  our  statesmanship. 

The  same  feeling  applies  to  patriotism.  We  wish 
to  transform  patriotism  from  a  belligerent  into  a  co- 
operative virtue.  To  that  end  we  can  see  patriotism  in 
paying  taxes  as  well  as  in  going  to  war,  and  in  the 
cooperation  of  churches  as  well  as  in  the  mobilization 
of  armies.  Our  country  communities  as  well  as  our 
city  communities  must  receive  more  attention  from 
the  earnest  Christian  spirit.  We  wish  to  save  individ- 
uals, not  merely  to  rescue  them,  and  we  believe  that 
the  power  of  Jesus  is  not  limited  by  geography  or 
race.  Thus  the  Federal  Council  stands  not  for  a  new 
ecclesiastical  authority,  but  as  an  agency  of  denomina- 
tional cooperation.  Christian  fellowship,  and  efficient 
evangelization. 


CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER         259 

THE  CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY 
CENTER 

William  F.  Anderson 

The  importance  of  the  rural  Hfe  movement  is  at- 
tested by  many  facts.  Probably  more  than  half  of 
the  population  of  the  country  lives  in  rural  communi- 
ties, that  is,  in  towns  and  villages  of  twenty-five  hun- 
dred people  and  fewer.  That  the  movement  has  taken 
a  strong  grip  upon  the  life  of  the  nation,  is  apparent 
by  the  attention  which  it  is  receiving  from  leaders  of 
thought  and  life  everywhere.  The  literature  which 
has  already  developed  upon  the  subject  is  extensive 
and  of  high  grade.  It  scarcely  seems  possible,  when 
one  considers  the  widespread  interest  in  the  move- 
ment, that  the  first  rural  life  commission  was  created 
by  the  authority  of  the  United  States  government  so 
recently  as  1908. 

By  common  consent  the  church  is  the  center  of  the 
community  life.  The  fact  is  that  man's  entire  life 
centers  in  the  religious  ideal.  The  providential  ar- 
rangement of  affairs  places  a  primal  emphasis  upon 
religion  and  its  relation  to  the  other  phases  of  human 
life.  The  incarnation  of  God  in  the  person  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  central  fact  of  history.  All  time  preced- 
ing it  was  simply  a  preparation  for  it;  all  time  subse- 
quent to  it  has  been  given  for  the  development  of  the 
significance  of  the  fact,  for  the  development  of  the  life, 
customs,  and  institutions  of  mankind. 

If  the  church  is  to  be  the  center  of  the  community 


26o  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

life,  it  must  get  the  right  conception  as  to  its  mission. 
The  church  is  not  an  end  within  itself,  but  a  means 
toward  an  end.  It  would  not  be  strange  if  there  should 
be  those  who  advance  the  objection  that  this  is  an  un- 
worthy appraisal  of  the  church's  standing.  I  would 
remind  such  of  that  profound  basic  principle  of  human 
life,  stated  in  the  words  of  our  Lord,  regarding  the 
significance  of  the  life  of  the  individual :  "  He  that 
would  save  his  life  must  lose  it;  and  he  that  loseth  his 
life  for  my  sake  and  the  gospel's,  the  same  shall  find 
it."  If  it  be  true  of  the  life  of  the  individual  that  he 
must  attain  his  highest  spiritual  significance  by  the 
gift  of  his  life  in  service  to  his  fellow  men,  I  hold  that 
it  is  equally  true  of  that  aggregation  of  individuals 
known  as  the  church.  The  church  must  lose  its  life 
in  service  to  the  community ;  and  the  church  that  gives 
itself  to  this  ideal  of  life  is  the  church  of  the  future, 
by  whatsoever  name  it  may  be  known  ecclesiastically. 
Now  the  question  may  arise  as  to  whether  the 
church,  if  it  fills  this  ideal,  may  not  lose  touch  with 
the  broader  world  movements  of  denominational  life. 
Such  an  objection  has  sometimes  been  urged.  Cer- 
tainly it  is  not  necessary,  in  strong  communities,  that 
such  should  be  the  case.  Such  a  church,  for  instance, 
as  the  Epworth  Memorial  Church  in  Cleveland  has 
found  its  interest  in  the  world  movements  intensified 
by  a  more  direct  application  of  its  activities  to  the 
needs  of  the  community.  The  objection  undoubtedly 
is  more  valid  in  the  weaker  communities;  and  I  see 
but  one  solution  of  the  problem  in  these  weaker  com- 
munities, namely,  that  the  church  which  predominates 


CHURCH  AS  A  COMMUNITY  CENTER         261 

in  Strength  shall  have  right  of  way;  and  that  thus  it 
may  develop  not  only  a  local  strength,  but  have  suf- 
ficient vitality  also  to  keep  up  its  interest  in  world-wide 
missionary  movements. 

A  survey  of  the  situation  in  the  state  of  Ohio  has 
brought  to  light  some  rather  startling  facts.  For  ex- 
ample, a  large  number  of  townships  in  the  rural  parts 
of  the  state  are  almost  entirely  destitute  of  provision 
for  the  religious  life  of  the  community.  There  rests 
upon  the  leaders  of  the  different  denominations  in  this 
situation  a  perfectly  tremendous  responsibility.  The 
principle  which  should  guide  us  all  in  the  administra- 
tion of  the  affairs  of  our  respective  denominations  is 
not  a  narrow^  sectarian  policy  which  obtained  in  the 
past  but  the  interests  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  The 
kingdom  of  God  is  the  really  big  thing  which  must 
by  all  effort  be  conserved.  That  we  have  our  de- 
nominational affiliations  and  loyalties  is  of  course  to 
be  expected;  but  the  man  who  places  a  sectarian,  de- 
nominational ideal  before  the  interests  of  the  Kingdom 
is  not  abreast  of  the  larger  redemptive  movements  of 
the  day. 

The  several  Annual  Conferences  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  state  of  Ohio  have  already,  by 
formal  action,  voted  to  cooperate  with  our  sister  de- 
nominations in  this  regard.  And  indeed  the  leaders  of 
the  respective  denominations  in  certain  communities 
have  already  been  cooperating  in  the  interests  of  the 
larger  Kingdom  by  a  policy  of  mutual  consideration 
and  yielding. 


262  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

THE  RURAL  CHURCH  AS  A  VITALIZING 
AGENT 

Woodrow  Wilson 

I  want  first  to  express  my  very  deep  gratitude  to 
you  for  the  cordial  manner  in  which  you  have  greeted 
me,  and  my  sense  of  privilege  in  standing  here  before 
you  to  speak  about  some  of  the  things  in  which  we 
are  mutually  interested.  You,  gentlemen,  are  perhaps 
more  interested  in  those  matters  of  policy  which  affect 
the  business  of  the  country  than  in  any  others;  and  yet 
it  has  never  seemed  to  me  possible  to  separate  the 
business  of  a  country  from  its  essential  spirit  and  the 
life  of  its  people.  The  mistake  that  some  men  have 
made  has  been  in  supposing  that  business  was  one  thing 
and  life  another;  whereas,  they  are  inseparable  in  their 
principles  and  in  their  expression. 

I  must  say  that  in  looking  back  upon  the  past  there 
is  something  about  the  history  of  business  in  this 
country  which  is  not  wholly  satisfactory.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  remember  that  in  the  early  years  of  the 
republic  we  felt  ourselves  more  a  part  of  the  general 
world  than  we  have  felt  since  then.  There  is  no  real 
antithesis;  a  man  lives  as  he  believes  he  ought  to  live, 
or  as  he  believes  that  it  is  of  advantage  to  live.  He 
lives  upon  a  doctrine,  upon  a  principle,  upon  an  idea, — 
sometimes  a  very  low  principle,  sometimes  a  very  ex- 
alted principle. 

I  used  to  be  told  when  I  was  a  youth  that  some  of 
the  old  causalities  reduced  all  sin  to  egotism.     And  I 


RURAL  CHURCH  AS  VITALIZING  AGENT      263 

have  thought  as  I  have  watched  the  career  of  some 
individuals  that  the  analysis  had  some  vital  point  to  it. 

An  egotist  is  a  man  who  has  got  the  whole  per- 
spective of  life  wrong.  He  conceives  of  himself  as 
the  center  of  affairs;  he  conceives  of  himself  as  the 
center  of  affairs  even  as  affects  the  providence  of  God. 
He  has  not  related  himself  to  the  great  forces  which 
dominate  him  with  the  rest  of  us,  and  therefore  has 
set  up  a  little  kingdom  all  his  own  in  which  he  reigns 
with  unhonored  sovereignty. 

And  so  there  are  some  men  who  set  up  the  principle 
of  individual  advantage  as  the  principle,  the  doctrine, 
of  their  life,  and  live  generally  a  life  that  leads  to  all 
sorts  of  shipwreck.  Whatever  our  doctrine  be,  our 
life  is  conformed  to  it,  but  what  I  want  to  speak  of 
is  not  the  contrast  between  doctrine  and  life  but  the 
translation  of  doctrine  into  life. 

After  all,  Christianity  is  not  important  to  us  because 
it  is  a  body  of  conceptions  regarding  man  and  God, 
but  because  it  is  a  vital  body  of  conceptions  which  can 
be  translated  into  life  for  us;  life  in  this  world  and 
a  life  still  greater  in  the  next. 

And  except  as  Christianity  changes  and  inspires  life 
it  has  failed  of  its  mission.  That  is  what  Christ  came 
into  the  world  for,  to  save  our  spirits ;  and  you  cannot 
have  your  spirit  altered  without  having  your  life 
altered. 

When  I  think  of  the  rural  church,  therefore,  I 
wonder  how  far  the  rural  church  is  vitalizing  the  lives 
of  the  community  in  which  it  exists.  We  have  had 
a  great  deal  to  say  recently,  and  it  has  been  very 


264  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

profitably  said,  about  the  school  as  a  social  center,  by 
which  is  meant  the  schoolhouse  as  a  social  center; 
about  making  the  house  which,  in  the  daytime,  is  used 
for  the  children,  a  place  which  their  parents  may  use 
in  the  evenings  and  at  other  disengaged  times  for  the 
meetings  of  the  community;  where  the  people  are 
privileged  to  come  together  and  talk  about  anything 
that  is  of  community  interest,  and  talk  about  it  with 
the  utmost  freedom. 

Some  people  have  been  opposed  to  it  because  there 
are  some  things  that  they  do  not  want  talked  about. 
Some  boards  of  education  have  been  opposed  to  it  be- 
cause they  realized  that  it  might  not  be  well  for  the 
board  of  education  to  be  talked  about.  Talk  is  a  very 
dangerous  thing.  Community  comparisons  of  views 
are  a  very  dangerous  thing  to  the  men  who  are  doing 
the  wrong  thing.  But  I,  for  my  part,  believe  in  making 
the  school  the  social  center,  the  place  that  the  com- 
munity can  use  for  any  kind  of  coordinating  that  it 
wants  to  do  in  its  life. 

But  I  believe  that  where  the  schoolhouse  is  inade- 
quate, and  even  where  it  is  adequate,  the  most  vital 
social  center  should  be  the  church  itself.  And  that, 
not  by  way  of  organizing  the  church  as  a  social  church. 
That  is  not  my  topic  to-night.  That  is  another  topic. 
I  speak  of  the  need  of  making  communities  realize  that 
the  congregations,  and  particularly  the  pastors,  are 
interested  in  everything  that  is  important  for  the  com- 
munity, and  that  the  members  of  the  church  are  ready 
to  coordinate  and  the  pastor  ready  to  lend  his  time 
and  his  energy  to  the  amount  of  organization  which 


RURAL  CHURCH  AS  VITALIZING  AGENT     265 

is  necessary  outside  the  church  as  well  as  in,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  community. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  country  pastor  has  an  un- 
paralleled opportunity  to  be  a  country  leader;  to  make 
everybody  realize  that  he  is  the  representative  of 
Christ;  to  prove  himself  related  to  everything  human, 
to  everything  human  that  has  as  its  object  the  uplift 
and  construction  and  inspiration  of  the  community  for 
the  betterment  of  any  of  its  conditions.  If  any  pastor 
v^ill  make  it  felt  throughout  the  community  that  this  is 
his  spirit  and  this  is  his  interest,  and  that  he  is  ready 
to  draw  his  elders  and  his  deacons  and  his  vestrymen 
with  him  as  active  agents  in  the  betterment  of  the 
community,  -the  church  will  begin  to  have  a  dominating 
influence  in  the  community  such  as  it  has  lost  for  the 
time  being  and  which  we  must  find  means  to  regain. 

For  example,  one  of  the  things  that  the  department 
of  agriculture  at  Washington  is  trying  to  do  for  the 
farming  community  is  to  show  the  farmers  of  the 
country  the  easiest  and  best  methods  of  cooperation 
with  regard  to  marketing  their  crops;  to  teach  them 
how  to  handle  their  crops  in  a  cooperative  fashion,  so 
that  they  can  get  the  best  service  from  the  railroads 
and  learn  how  to  find  the  prevailing  market  prices  in 
the  accessible  markets.  Thus  they  will  come  to  know 
where  it  will  be  best  and  most  profitable  to  send  their 
farm  products  and  will  draw  themselves  together  into 
cooperative  associations  with  these  objects  in  view. 

The  church  ought  to  lend  its  hand  to  that.  The 
pastor  ought  to  say:  "If  you  want  somebody  to  look 
after  this  for  you,  I  will  give  part  of  my  time,  and 


266  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

I  will  find  other  men  in  my  congregation  who  will  help 
you  without  charging  you  anything  for  it.  We  want 
you  to  realize  that  this  church  is  interested  in  the  lives 
of  the  people  of  this  country,  and  that  it  will  lend  itself 
to  any  legitimate  project  that  advances  the  life  and 
interests  of  the  people  of  this  country." 

Let  the  rural  church  find  that  and  then  discover,  as 
it  will  discover,  that  men  begin  to  swing  their  thoughts 
to  those  deeper  meanings  of  the  church  to  which  we 
wish  to  draw  their  attention;  that  this  is  a  spiritual 
brotherhood;  that  the  pastor  and  his  associates  are  in- 
terested in  them,  because  they  are  interested  in  the 
souls  of  men  and  the  prosperity  of  men  as  it  lies  deep 
in  their  hearts.  There  are  a  great  many  ways  by 
which  leadership  can  be  exercised. 

The  church  has  too  much  depended  upon  individual 
example.  ''  So  let  your  light  shine  before  men  "  has 
been  taken  to  be  ''  put  your  individual  self  on  a  can- 
dlestick and  shine."  Now  the  trouble  is  that  some 
people  cannot  find  the  candlestick,  but  the  greater 
trouble  is  that  they  are  a  very  poor  candle  and  the  light 
is  very  dim.  It  does  not  dispel  much  of  the  darkness 
for  me  individually  to  sit  on  the  top  of  a  candlestick. 
But  if  I  lend  such  little  contribution  of  spiritual  forces 
as  I  have  to  my  neighbor  and  to  my  comrade  and  to 
my  friend,  and  we  can  draw  a  circle  of  friends  to- 
gether and  unite  our  spiritual  forces,  then  we  have 
something  more  than  example.  We  have  cooperation, 
and  cooperation,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  the  vital 
principle  of  social  life. 

I  think  I  know  something  about  organization.     I 


RURAL  CHURCH  AS  VITALIZING  AGENT      267 

can  make  an  organization,  but  it  is  one  thing  to  have 
an  organization  and  another  thing  to  fill  it  with  life. 
And  then  it  is  a  very  important  matter  what  sort  of 
life  to  fill  it  with.  If  the  object  of  the  organization  is 
what  the  object  of  some  business  organizations  is,  and 
the  object  of  many  political  organizations  is,  to  absorb 
the  life  of  the  community  and  run  the  community  for 
its  own  benefit,  then  there  is  nothing  profitable  in  it. 
But  if  the  object  of  the  organization  is  to  afford  a 
mechanism  by  which  the  whole  community  can  co- 
operatively use  its  life,  then  there  is  a  great  deal  in  it; 
and  organization  without  the  spirit  of  cooperation  is 
dead  and  may  be  dangerous.  So  the  vital  principle  is 
cooperation,  and  organization  is  secondary. 

I  have  been  a  member  of  one  or  two  churches  that 
were  admirably  organized  and  were  accomplishing 
nothing.  You  know  some  people  dearly  love  organ- 
ization. They  dearly  love  to  sit  in  a  church  and  pre- 
side. They  pride  themselves  upon  their  knowledge  of 
parliamentary  practice.  They  love  to  congregate  and 
write  minutes.  They  love  to  appoint  committees. 
They  boast  of  the  number  of  committees  that  their 
organization  has,  and  they  like  the  power  and  the 
social  influence  of  distributing  their  friends  among  the 
committees.  And  then,  when  the  committees  are 
formed,  there  is  nothing  to  commit  to  them. 

This  is  a  nation  which  loves  to  go  through  the  mo- 
tion of  public  meetings  whether  there  is  anything  par- 
ticularly important  to  consider  or  not.  It  is  an  inter- 
esting thing  to  me  that  the  American  is  actually  bom 
knowing  how  to  conduct  a  public  meeting.    I  remerhber 


268     .       THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

that  when  I  was  a  lad  I  belonged  to  an  organization 
which  seemed  to  be  very  important,  "  The  Lightfoot 
Baseball  Club."  Our  club-room  was  an  unoccupied 
corner  of  the  loft  of  my  father's  barn,  the  part  that 
the  hay  did  not  encroach  upon.  And  I  distinctly  re- 
member how  we  used  to  conduct  orderly  meetings  of 
the  club  in  that  corner  of  the  loft.  I  had  never  seen 
a  public  meeting,  and  I  do  not  believe  any  of  the  other 
lads  with  whom  I  was  associated  had  ever  seen  a 
public  meeting.  But  we  somehow  knew  how  to  con- 
duct one.  We  knew  how  to  make  motions  and  second 
them.  We  knew  that  a  motion  could  not  have  more 
than  two  amendments  offered  at  the  same  time,  and 
we  knew  the  order  in  which  the  amendments  had  to 
be  put,  the  second  amendment  before  the  first.  How 
we  knew  it  I  do  not  know.  We  were  bom  that  way, 
I  suppose. 

But  nothing  more  important  happened  with  the 
Lightfoot  Baseball  Club  than  with  some  church  organ- 
ization meetings,  and  I  remember  distinctly  that  my 
delight  and  interest  was  in  the  meetings,  not  in  what 
they  were  for.  I  delighted  merely  in  the  sense  of 
belonging  to  an  organization  and  in  doing  something 
with  the  organization,  it  did  not  very  much  matter 
what.  Some  churches  are  organized  in  that  way. 
They  are  exceedingly  active  about  nothing. 

Now  why  not  lend  that  organization  instinct,  that 
acting  instinct,  to  the  real  things  that  are  happening  in 
the  community,  whether  they  have  anything  to  do  with 
the  church  or  not  ? 

We  look  back  to  the  time  of  the  early  settlement  of 


RURAL  CHURCH  AS  VITALIZING  AGENT     269 

this  country  and  remember  that  in  New  England  the 
church  and  the  school  were  the  two  sources  of  life  of 
the  community.  Everything  centered  in  them;  every- 
thing emanated  from  them.  The  school  fed  the 
church,  and  the  church  ran  the  community.  It  some- 
times did  not  run  it  very  liberally,  and  I,  for  my  part, 
would  not  wish  to  see  any  church  run  any  community; 
but  I  do  wish  to  see  every  church  assist  the  community 
in  which  it  is  established  to  run  itself  in  such  a  way 
as  will  show  that  the  spirit  of  Christianity  is  the  spirit 
of  assistance,  of  counsel,  of  vitalization,  of  intensive 
effort  in  everything  that  affects  the  lives  of  men, 
women,  and  children. 

So  I  am  hoping  that  the  outcome  of  this  conference 
and  all  that  we  say  and  do  about  this  important  matter 
may  be  to  remind  the  church  that  it  is  put  into  this 
world  not  only  to  save  the  individual  soul  but  to  save 
society  also.  The  church  must  go  to  work  in  society 
with  a  realization  of  the  greater  exigency  of  society 
than  that  of  the  individual,  because  if  society  is  to  be 
saved  it  must  be  saved  in  this  world,  not  in  the  next. 
I  hope  that  our  society  is  not  going  to  exist  in  the  next. 
It  needs  amendment  in  several  particulars,  I  venture  to 
say,  and  I  hope  that  the  society  in  the  next  world  will 
be  amended  in  those  particulars  which  I  will  not  men- 
tion. But  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  society  in  the 
next  world.  We  may  have  something  to  do  with  the 
individual  soul  in  the  next  world  by  getting  it  started 
for  the  next  world,  but  we  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  organization  of  society  in  the  next  world. 

We  have  got  to  save  society,  so  far  as  it  is  saved. 


270  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

by  the  instrumentality  of  Christianity  in  this  world. 
It  is  a  job,  therefore,  we  have  got  to  undertake  imme- 
diately and  work  at  all  the  time.  This  is  the  business 
of  the  church. 

Legislation  cannot  save  society.  Legislation  cannot 
even  rectify  society.  A  law  that  will  work  is  merely 
the  summing  up  in  legislative  form  of  the  moral  judg- 
ment that  the  community  has  already  reached. 

Law  records  show  how  far  society  has  advanced, 
and  there  have  to  be  preceding  a  law  instrumentalities 
which  advance  society  up  to  that  point  where  it  is  ready 
for  record.  Try  the  experiment  of  enacting  a  law  that 
is  the  moral  judgment  of  a  very  small  minority  of  the 
community,  and  it  will  not  work.  Most  people  will 
not  understand  it,  and  if  they  do  understand  it,  they 
will  resent  it.  But  whether  they  understand  it  and 
resent  it  or  not,  they  will  not  obey  it. 

Law  is  a  record  of  achievement;  it  is  not  a  process 
of  regeneration.  Our  wills  have  to  be  regenerated  and 
our  purposes  rectified  before  we  are  in  a  position  to 
enact  laws  that  record  those  moral  achievements;  and 
that  is  the  business  primarily,  it  seems  to  me,  of  the 
Christian. 

There  are  a  great  many  arguments  about  Chris- 
tianity. There  are  a  great  many  things  which  we 
freely  assert  which  we  can't,  in  the  ordinary  scientific 
sense  of  the  word,  prove;  but  there  are  some  things 
which  we  can  show.  The  proof  of  Christianity  is 
written  in  the  biography  of  the  saints;  and  by  the 
saints  I  do  not  mean  the  technical  saints — those  whom 
the  church  or  the  world  have  picked  out  and  labeled 


RURAL  CHURCH  AS  VITALIZING  AGENT      271 

saints,  for  they  are  not  very  numerous.  I  do  mean 
by  the  term  the  people  whose  lives — whose  individual 
lives — have  been  transformed  by  Christianity. 

Christianity  is  the  only  force  in  the  world  that  I 
have  ever  heard  of  which  does  actually  transform  life. 
And  the  proof  of  that  transformation  is  to  be  found 
all  over  the  Christian  world,  and  is  multiplied  and  re- 
peated as  Christianity  gains  fresh  territory  in  the 
heathen  world.  Men  begin  suddenly  to  erect  great 
spiritual  standards  over  the  little  personal  standards 
which  they  heretofore  professed  and  will  walk  smiling 
to  the  stake  in  order  that  their  souls  may  be  true  to 
themselves.  There  really  isn't  anything  else  that  does 
that. 

There  is  something  that  is  analogous  to  it,  and  that 
is  patriotism.  Men  will  go  into  the  fire  of  battle  and 
freely  give  their  lives  for  something  greater  than  them- 
selves— their  duty  to  their  country.  This  analogy  be- 
tween patriotism  and  Christianity  is  a  fine  one  indeed. 
The  vitalizing  principle  of  each  is  the  devotion  of  the 
spirit  to  something  greater  and  nobler  than  itself. 

These  are  transforming  influences.  All  the  trans- 
forming influences  of  the  world  are  unselfish.  There 
is  not  a  single  selfish  force  in  the  world  that  is  not 
touched  with  sinister  power,  and  the  church  is  the  only 
embodiment  of  the  things  that  are  entirely  unselfish, 
the  principles  of  self-sacrifice  and  devotion.  Surely 
this  is  the  instrumentality  by  which  rural  communities 
may  be  transformed  and  led  to  the  things  that  are 
great;  and  surely,  there  is  nothing  in  the  rural  com- 
munity in  which  the  rural  church  ought  not  to  be  the 


272  THE  CHURCH  AND  COUNTRY  LIFE 

leader  and  in  which  it  ought  not  to  be  the  vital  actual 
center. 

That  is  the  simple  message  which  I  came  to  utter 
to-night,  and  as  I  began  by  saying  that  it  would  proba- 
bly be  no  message,  I  repeat  that  it  is  no  new  message; 
I  dare  say  it  has  been  repeatedly  said  in  this  confer- 
ence. I  merely  wanted  to  add  my  testimony  to  the 
validity  and  fire  of  that  conception,  because  we  are  in 
the  world  to  do  something  more  than  look  out  for 
ourselves. 

The  reason  that  I  am  proud  to  be  an  American  is 
that  America  was  given  birth  to  by  such  conceptions 
as  these;  that  its  object  in  the  world,  its  only  reason 
for  existence  as  a  government,  was  to  show  men  the 
paths  of  liberty  and  of  mutual  serviceability;  to  lift  the 
common  man  out  of  the  paths,  out  of  the  slough  of  dis- 
couragement, even  despair,  and  set  his  feet  upon  firm 
ground;  to  tell  him  here  is  the  high  road  upon  which 
he  is  as  much  entitled  to  walk  as  any  that  walks;  to 
make  him  realize  that  here  is  a  free  field  and  no 
favor,  and  that  as  his  moral  qualities  and  his  physical 
powers  are,  so  will  his  success  be.  No  man  shall  make 
him  afraid,  and  none  shall  do  him  an  injustice. 

These  are  the  ideals  of  America.  We  have  not  al- 
ways lived  up  to  them ;  no  community  has  always  lived 
up  to  them,  but  we  are  dignified  by  the  fact  that  these 
are  the  things  that  we  live  by  and  swear  by.  And 
America  is  great  in  the  world,  not  as  she  is  a  success- 
ful government  merely,  but  as  she  is  a  successful  em- 
bodiment of  a  great  ideal  of  unselfish  citizenship. 
That  is  what  makes  the  world  feel  America  draws  it 


A  LAST  WORD  o.'jz 

like  a  lodestone;  that  is  the  reason  that  the  ships  which 
cross  the  sea  have  so  many  hopeful  eyes  lifted  from 
their  humbler  quarters  toward  the  shores  of  the  new 
world;  that  is  the  reason  why  men,  after  they  have 
been  for  a  little  while  in  America  and  go  back  for  a 
visit  to  the  old  country,  have  a  new  light  in  their  faces, 
the  light  that  is  kindled  here  in  the  country  where  they 
have  seen  some  of  their  hopes  fulfilled — the  light  that 
shines  from  America. 

God  grant  that  it  may  always  shine,  and  that  in 
many  a  humble  heart  in  quiet  country  churches  the 
flames  may  be  lighted  by  which  this  great  light  is  kept 
alive. 


A  LAST  WORD 

The  statement  of  Gifford  Pinchot,  chairman  of  the 
Commission  on  the  Church  and  Country  Life,  conclud- 
ing the  conference,  was  as  follows : 

This  conference  has  set  the  country  church  problem 
in  a  new  position  and  has  shown  that  the  time  is  ripe 
for  a  united,  vigorous,  and  promising  effort  to  give  the 
country  church  the  power  and  influence  which  right- 
fully belong  to  it. 

It  has  proved  that  the  denominations  represented  in 
the  Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in  Amer- 
ica are  ready  and  eager  to  work  together  to  give  new 
strength  to  the  country  church.  It  has  shown  the  value 
of  the  Federal  Council  at  a  new  angle,  and  it  has  pro- 
cured for  the  country  church  problem  a  hearing  and  a 
place  that  is  national  in  every  sense. 


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Reading    Lists    on    Social    Questions, ,e 

Suggestions     for    Labor    Sunday,     'li. 

I^abor    Sunday     Program,     '):" 

The   Open    Forum;   by    William  Horton    Foster," '.'.'.'.".'.*!.' I'^o 

Save   Our   Soldiers    and   Sailors,    '.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.'.        80 

Commission   on   Peace   and  Arbitration:    Single    copies    Free 
The   American- Japanese    Problem;    by    Sidney    L.    Gulick! 
The    Churches    of    Christ    in    America    and    International    Peace;    by 
Charles    S.    Macfarland.  -^ 

Europe's    War-America's    Warning;    by    Charles    S.    Macfarland. 
Report   of   the    Christian    Embassy    to   Japan. 

A   Comprehensive   Immigration   Policy    and    Program;   by   Sidney   L    Gulick 
Asia  s   Appeal    to   America;   by    Sidney   L.    Gulick  ' 

The   Pacific  Coast  and  the  New  Oriental   Policy;  by   Sidney  L.   Gulick. 
The  Delusion  of  Militarism;   by   Charles   E.   Jefferson 
Commission    on    Christian    Education: 

Lesson  Courses  on  International  Peace  and  Goodwill  for  the  Churches, 

Outline  of  Course  on  International' "Peace";' "si'rigie' "copie's"  "free." ° 

Commission    on    Evangelism:    Single    copies    Free 

Evangelistic   Work   in   the   Churches    of  America. 

Advance    Steps    in    Evangelism. 

The    Commission    on    Evangelism. 

Call   to   Prayer   for   a   World-wide   Revival. 

Religious   Work  at   the  Panama-Pacific  Exposition. 
Commission    on    Temperance:    Single    copies    Free. 

batety  J^irst;  Temperance  Facts  and  Thoughts  for  Temperance  Sunday. 

^^"bod^fs  ^soc^i?"^^"^-  LITERATURE,  including  statistics  of  religious 
the  work  for  tfr\T\''!]"^u  ^^PO'-ts,  and  other  literature  describing 
tne   work   for   the   United   Churches.      For   the    set, $0.25* 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Libraries 


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